I have been using some form of GNU/Linux since 2004/2005ish and this is new.
I don't like it. I was in the habit of casually mentioning what OS I use, my
philosophical reasons for doing so, and offering brief tech advice to those
in need on various hobby and special interest forums.
People used to be at least polite enough to say, "That's interesting." or
"You must be very smart." or "I wish I was a supergenius/had a Phd. in
computer science like (myusername)"
It's been very sudden, but not they call me anarchist or terrorist instead of
supergenius.
That is undoubtedly what your parents are reacting to. I get it a bit from my
kids and the octogenarian father I used to brag about on the forums is an
applefanboi now.
All this bla bla bla tmi can be distilled into some simple advice to be
gentle with your parents but don't worry about the tech advice. We have
posters here in those countries who are decent, kind, helpful people as well
as decent, kind, helpful posters in the UK and US who are very upset about
what their governments are doing.
You are absolutely right. It is racist. It is strange. The fact that it is
common has nothing to do with the previous facts.
/soapbox
