As a Chinese American, I kinda have this self-imposed rule to never enter the boundaries of a red state, and even within Blue/Purple states, to avoid ending up in some rural town. Bascially, half of my country is inaccessible to me due to my perceived fear of potentially being a victim of racism.
Am I being paranoid?
My Korean partner got pulled over on the highway in Texas for being the wrong color, twice in an hour on bullshit reasons. She was not allowed to remain in her vehicle while the cops looked her up. This was before Trump emboldened racists.
Last time that clown was in office there was a spike in hate crimes against Asians, the “China flu” rhetoric may have been part of the cause.
You’re not paranoid.