Boulder Police reported last week that a CU female student falsified the allegation that a black man attacked her last weekend on University Hill. While any kind of violent crime is tragic and deserves the rapid and careful response of the wider community, the falsification of this specific alleged attack carries its own painful ramifications.

Women, particularly women of color, are disproportionately targets of violent crime, yet many women are often reluctant to report their attackers because they think no one will believe them, or that they will be blamed for inviting or deserving the attack. False reporting of crime is rare. When it does occur, however, it reinforces negative beliefs that women are not credible reporters, making it more difficult for women to come forward when they do endure violence.

The woman's falsified report also perpetuates a legacy of racist associations of African-American men with violence. These associations, sometimes explicit and often implicit, occur quite automatically. This automatic quality is characteristic of many racist images from years of exposure to false ideas and myths that are barely conscious and rarely challenged. Sadly, such associations often find fertile ground in the minds of the majority who have been exposed to similar false associations.

The police and CU-Boulder administrators took the woman's report seriously and responded rapidly to alert the community. It is their duty to report specific characteristics of an assailant, which usually includes race. Because of this false allegation, men of color at our predominantly white campus and city experienced even more scrutiny than is already part of their everyday realities. The damage done to men of color -- and all people of color -- on and off campus, is real.

Members of the university community, especially those who strive to prevent, educate and provide support in dealing with discrimination and violence, are relieved that the woman was not harmed. We know, however, that though an individual was not injured, an ideal of a community respectful of gender and racial diversity was jeopardized, and communities of color were indeed harmed.

We need to be aware of negative, hidden attitudes and how they inform each of our perspectives. We are a community and need to redouble our efforts to create a safe and respectful environment for everyone.

Scarlet Bowen, Ph.D is director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Resource Center, University of Colorado at Boulder.