My inbox is full of hate mails and personal abuse and has been for years.
In 2010, I started answering those mails and suggesting to the writer that we might meet for coffee and a chat.
I have had hundreds of encounters. They have taught me something important that I want to share with you.
I was born in Turkey from Kurdish parents and we moved to Denmark when I was a young child.
In 2007, I ran for a seat in the Danish parliament as one of the first women with a minority background.
I was elected, but I soon found out that not everyone was happy about it
as I had to quickly get used to finding hate messages in my inbox. Those emails would begin with something like this:
"What's a raghead like you doing in our parliament?" I never answered.
I'd just delete the emails. I just thought that the senders and I had nothing in common.
They didn't understand me, and I didn't understand them.
