To get status signals and attention in a country where everyone is desperately lonely, lives an an illusion of their own making created out of consumer goods, and lacks any kind of validation from others because everyone else is doing the same thing.
Yes, that’s really the reason.
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-people-in-America-take-something-thats-innocent-and-turn-it-into-something-that-they-think-is-racist