Here's the thing: you're right to feel that way depending on your surroundings. I work in construction in Texas (and kinda look the part) and it is astonishing how many people are willing to buy into bullshit, and expect you to do the same, because that's what everyone else does. Finding another family that isn't gargling right wing propaganda, "god-fearing", or just one brand of asshole is so difficult around here.
Since our children were born we have been increasingly intolerant of all that nonsense. This has unfortunately led to our support system dwindling away because we aren't willing to compromise on the morale standards we want our kids exposed to.
Me - be white and wear my veteran's hat for no reason other than it's one of the few out there that's actually comfortable to wear.
Random conservatives - racism mode go!
I usually make one attempt to highlight their stuff, see if they're self aware at all, and then excuse myself from the conversation. Otherwise they always, and I mean every time, accuse me of stolen valor when they figure out I'm not a conservative.
Yeah apparently being white and having a beard with a hint of unfortunate RBF is enough to signal racist around here. The toughest part is when it's coming from your professional superiors.
Yes, white male here. I can't tell you how many times I end up alone with some stranger, who looks at me, and decides "yeah, this guy is cool with me being openly racist". Don't have a beard, no tatts, nothing on my person that would indicate any political/social position, so I guess being a white dude is enough.
This was my impression visiting Texas a few months ago (went for the eclipse and visited Houston, Austin, and Dallas).
Especially in Houston, it seemed that the propaganda was everywhere. Never mind being a city that could very much use some light-rail and instead is just a massive web of super wide highways (that still get congested). Seeing a Billboard announcing the Epoch Times as "the number 1 most trusted news", a half a mile before a Joel Osteen megachurch, really made me realize how much these ideas spreading so much are a product of their environment.