I recently had a conversation with a friend about our shared political anxieties. She confided that, as a Hispanic woman, she lives in constant fear that xenophobia and racism might escalate to the point where she and her family—despite all being born in the United States—could face deportation to Mexico.
She described her anxiety as being like tinnitus: sometimes it’s a faint hum she can push to the background, and other times it’s an overwhelming screech that drowns out everything else. Yet, no matter what, it’s always there.
Her analogy struck me deeply; it perfectly captured feelings I hadn’t been able to articulate myself. Though our experiences as minorities differ, we share a common undercurrent of fear, one that shapes the way we navigate the world.