I’m not going to lie: These days –after many, many years living on this side of the border– I’ve become increasingly uneasy about doing things that I normally would do in public: Speak Spanish, wear hoop earrings, say outloud I’m Mexican a mucha honra, etc. etc.

The reason? As I keep saying on Twitter, being a minority in America used to be difficult, yes, but now it’s just plain dangerous.

Being Mexican in America used to be difficult. Now is outright dangerous https://t.co/9OEhStz7zS

— Laura Martínez (@miblogestublog) June 26, 2019

Barely days after an anti-Mexican nutcase shot dozens of people in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, many of them fatally, another member of the “I Am a White Dude Who Hates Hispanics” clan was arrested after making a series of social media threats against Hispanics in the Miami area.

According to multiple press reports, Eric Lin, a Maryland native, sent a bunch of threatening messages on Facebook professing his nazi beliefs, and vowing to exterminate the entire “Latin Race” [sic] which he also referred to as “rabid dogs.”

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Lin then went on to praise the “great president” of this nation, who as we all know kicked off his presidential campaign by calling us criminals, drug-dealers and rapists.

Coincidence? Ummmmmm….

Pres. Trump called Mexicans “rapists” at the outset of his presidential campaign; he later called white nationalist rally attendees “very fine people.”

For years, POTUS has trafficked in racial stereotypes while denying racist motives, @MajorCBS reports https://t.co/Gt8wYOJ2zC pic.twitter.com/2QknkRIGpT

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) July 15, 2019