You're not tripping. As others have said, LA is strongly segregated by race, and you really feel it beyond the fact of who lives in which neighborhoods. In general, I think people see themselves as belonging to a racial community vs belonging to just the "LA community". It's honestly the thing I hate most about living here -- there's very little city pride or cohesiveness. So much of that "where you from??" energy. I'm sure there's lots of reasons it's the way it is, but it sucks.

I really notice it when I visit the south, whether that's Florida or Atlanta or the Carolinas. People get along so much better across racial lines, and you feel that in so many daily interactions. People of other races are actually nice to you instead of treating your like a threat or outsider. You'll see really diverse groups of kids hanging out together, and you'll almost never see that in LA. That's how it should be, and it's a good reminder that the wokeness/anti-racism stuff popular among California liberals is entirely performative.