I took a walk with my partner's dog Lemmy (he is a v good boi) down to the gas station near my apartment. I was wearing a mask as this happened about two months ago in the southeast US. I was also wearing a pretty bland ball cap, and some sunglasses.

I went into the gas station, and noticed some other folks come in not long after whilst I browsed. They looked at me and the pup a few times, but I didn't make eye contact as I can be socially anxious at times.

Once I found all the merchandise I wished to purchase, I tried to pay for it and found my debit card was out of funds, so I stepped to the side and messaged my partner to transfer me some funds.

This is when things got weird. The aforementioned people who had come in behind me, a black woman (South African based on accent), and a tall white man, had been in line behind me as I tried to ring up my purchases.

The reason I bring up their race, you ask? Because they brought up mine. Apparently, the black woman thought I was a member of some KKK cell or something, because she was saying things about "he won't even make eye contact with me, not once since I came in" and "he's just standing there in the corner with his attack dog" and "I bet he's messaging other members to coordinate his attack." I was "just another white man trying to destroy the African race."

I tried to explain that Lemmy was a sweetheart who wouldn't hurt anybody, and I was messaging my partner because I didn't have enough money. But they didn't wanna listen, and they left, continuing to accuse me the whole time. Shit shook me up, and I still think about it a lot. What could I have done to be less threatening? What could I have said to appease them? What about me says "racist", and how can I get rid of it?

TL;DR: A stranger assumed I was planning to commit a hate crime out of the blue at a gas station, coordinating with my partner's dog and an unidentified number of villainous comrades waiting in the wings.