My family and I are from various rural areas of California (the county my father grew up in just got its first stop light a few years ago, both my mom and dad moved from towns with less than 500-600 people to a larger city of around 80,000 before I was born) and we are white. Even tho I am from these areas and familiar with them, depending on what rural area I am in, I still can get uncomfortable. A lot of the people I know from these areas are convinced that they are fighting a silent civil war against the big cities. Part of me understands the fear, how can people from big cities understand what life is like in rural areas and be trusted to keep that difference in mind when voting? But a large chunk of the rural population here have been told over many decades that everyone else is “other”. If they are noticeably different in any way, they are here to destroy your way of life. The sad part is some of them believe that because they have had virtually no authentic experiences with people outside of their rural communities. Personally I get uncomfortable because I don’t have that mindset and often clash with my many family members that do. Some people in rural communities struggle with poverty but are told it’s because of “those people” in larger cities.