There was a story a couple years ago about a Maga weatherman who pulled a gun on a little girl who rang his doorbell trying to find her lost kitten. There literally ain't a human being on this planet who should feel safe around them.

Hell, I look pretty white am a natural born US citizen as were both my parents and I worry a bit because I have a non-anglo Latin surname.

Being of Cuban descent, married to a Honduran women and living in a Republican state (though supposedly in a "blue" city), I'm always worried. I would always joke at my last job that if I didn't show up and didn't call the "you-know-whos" came for me.

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.

I am white, and I don't feel safe traveling through the deep red parts of this country.

Hell, I won't even go to a state that doesn't have legal weed.

I am white, but I'm amab and have some gender fuckery going on; i always boymode unless I'm specifically going to a place that is safe. I probably wouldn't be bothered any given day if I went out in a dress, but I'd absolutely face some bullshit at least once a week.

Edit: forgot to mention i live in one of those Republican shitholes

I'm white, but not everyone in my family is, and I am avoiding red states. You're not going to hear any disagreement from me on the wisdom of it 🤷

Red state/blue state has more to do with gerrymandering than people you will actually encounter. Throughout the country it's much more city/rural. I've lived in Dallas for 25 years. i know a handful of Republicans (some were term 1 maga but have since recovered) and one maga (i think - she said dei a few months ago but not strongly enough that i remember the context). If you look at voting numbers in states you'll see the difference is usually only a few percentage points statewide. Cities tend to be blue, rural areas tend to be red. No one is going to attack you in a gas station along the interstate. Avoid rural bars and you'll be fine. You're buying into some of the propaganda and overreacting with paranoia.

Not entire states but there are certainly counties and small towns I want absolutely nothing to do with because the cops go completely unchecked.

my Chinese friend is occasionally harassed or disrespected for looking/sounding asian around all of the states, so your concern doesn't sound paranoid to me.

I’ve lived and worked in red states my whole life and I’d say you’re paranoid.

Ive worked in Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia, and Missouri to name a few.

I call the Appalachians home

I do not pass for white

My name sounds foreign as fuck

I’ve got a beautiful wife who happens to be white

Not particularly unsafe. I've had to pull off during road trips either for food or emergency car maintenance in rural Louisiana and in Alabama. The Louisiana pit stop at a small garage in the middle of nowhere didn't make me feel unsafe, but the guys in the shop were unironically talking about how you could turn your Bluetooth on in order to see who around you has been vaccinated because their MAC address would show up.

In Alabama a ton of people were staring at me... I was like... Do I have something on my face? Oh, you just think it's weird that a Latino guy is in your small family restaurant for breakfast?

In South Carolina there were a bunch of dudes toting confederate flags, which was unsettling, but they didn't threaten me or anything.

I unfortunately live in a red state now to be close to family for a few years. I can't wait till I can move back to the PNW or Colorado to be closer to one of my brothers.

As a south asian american large cities in red states are usually fine for racial discrimination. There are suburbs in places like Dallas where every other person is asian.

I have been on roadtrips through rural areas, including ones with Chinese American friends, and have felt unsafe at many gas stations though. We try to get gas and get going as quick as possible at the more sketch locations. We only go inside for bathrooms at large well lit gas stations with plenty of cameras.

A little paranoid but I'm similar and while I'm white, my family is Asian and none of us want to visit red areas. It's not as dangerous as say, being LGBTQ+ or otherwise looking a certain nonconforming way, though. The worst we've got over race is my wife being assumed she doesn't speak English which is frustrating but not dangerous.

I personally just avoid places like that because I'm also very uncomfortable around religious people. If they knew how atheist I am I'd be hung in an instant (or worse, prostelytized to!)

Whitey here, but here's some insight from a queer person in the deeply conservative south. I'm cis and straight passing enough that at worst I get some odd looks from time to time, but my other queer friends haven't had better luck. Just recently one of them was being tailed in a grocery store by a dude and his kid, and they'd overheard the father say awful things about them to his kid, including "vile," "dirty," and "f*ggot" Didn't confront my friend over it thankfully, cops in this town are notoriously bad if you're not a white anglo saxon protestant man.

Australian guy here. I guess it's like Driving Miss Daisy again. Hoke couldn't use any of the bathrooms in whatever state he was driving though.

Here's my take.

Most cops are lazy.

They aren't going after anyone unless they have to.

You're being a bit paranoid, but I understand where it's coming from. I've been all over the country, and there isn't a place to be found free of shitbags, including in blue states and cities. Don't let shitbags restrict your movements and life experiences because that's exactly what they want.

Am I being paranoid?

Yes.