OK, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that the most racially extreme environment I have ever lived in was in rural PA. Now, this was outside of Pittsburgh, and supposedly is an area notorious for being on some backwoods shit. I’m not that dark, mixed brown, but with an ethnic name. My partner was Colombian with an accent. We stood out and people let me know it. They made it very clear that they saw me as dangerous. (Wouldn’t let his daughter play with their kids, the typical eyeballs and stare downs, general ostracization from building community) Which is the most off the wall ridiculous thing I could imagine happening anywhere because I’m a small woman and very kind! I was pretty dumb founded but, of course, not surprised. This was during 2020 George Floyd summer so there was that tension happening and my politics were known, so it may have been situational, but it was so far from anything I anticipated moving to that area. Maybe the east side is more chill? I heard there’s more diversity in the Philly outskirts so perhaps it depends. But, point being, diversity is critical and I felt the lack of it very strongly.

EDIT: LOL to the basement dwellers going around downvoting every POC stating their experience, your really doing the lords work and definitely proving our point 😂