“They’ll eat any type of animal.”

“They’re dirty.”

That’s what my classmate said,

just days after the Coronavirus outbreak

started in the United States.

It felt like a stab to my chest.

I’m Chinese-American, and this is someone

that I’ve gone to school with for almost three years,

who I consider a friend.

But it’s no wonder that she feels this way.

“An obscure virus arising

from a meat market in eastern China.”

As the Coronavirus spreads,

there’s another virus spreading that we

need to be talking about.

“A woman who's Asian says

she was punched by another woman in midtown Manhattan

and she accused her of having the Covid-19 virus.”

“I don’t want him [inaudible] me. Tell him to move.”

Young Asian-Americans

like me are feeling hate infect

every part of our lives.

“And I’d like to just ask the Chinese for a formal apology.”

Not only do we have to be afraid about our health.

But we have to be afraid about being ourselves.

Class basically just started. One of the girls

said all Chinese people were disgusting.

And so I literally like raised my hand up

and was like “I’m Chinese.”

She didn’t even say sorry. She didn't.

She just like blew past it I guess.

And then she like kept going on about it.

I never knew it would happen to me, especially

at this school.

Good morning.

Morning.

Yeah, basically this Chinese restaurant was

like texting their customers saying none of our staff

have been to China.

We have no contact with the Coronavirus.

Please like like, come back to us.

And people were like making fun of it.

There are thousands and thousands of cases in Italy.

But no one’s boycotting Olive Garden.

No seriously like, no one is boycotting

a mom and pop’s pizza place. Like it's the same thing.

Historically, pandemics have stoked xenophobia.

In the 19th century, people spread rumors

that Irish immigrants carried cholera, and tuberculosis was

known as the “Jewish disease.”

In 1900, when a Chinese man supposedly died of the plague

in San Francisco, Chinatown residents were forcibly

quarantined by police, while white residents were

allowed to leave the area.

It seems like since the start of the Coronavirus outbreak

schools have been a Petri dish for racism.

It’s dangerous to normalize behavior

like this for people my age.

So you just spoke with the other student.

So can you tell me what happened?

She understood my frustration and anger.

They didn’t really mean to say that.

And they were actually making a generalization.

And so she apologized to me basically.

And I really appreciated it.

Coronavirus may have originated in China.

But the disease doesn’t discriminate in the way

that people do.

It’s extremely important that people

have accurate information on how to stay safe.

So we can kill this virus without spreading

another one.