"Just because I am Asian does not mean I have the virus."

I am a college student who attends school in New York and lives in California with my parents. Back in March, I was coming home for spring break with all my belongings when the pandemic had just begun in America (and my school was going online for the entire semester). I went into the plane with a mask on, and I sat down in my seat next to a lady. She looked at me as if I had the virus and she looked very uncomfortable sitting next to me just because I had a mask on. She then went on to texting her husband (the font on her phone was so big that I could clearly see everything and see literally had her back towards me) that, "There is an Asian girl sitting next to me". Then her husband replied, "Tell her to switch seats with [daughter's name].” They were sitting next to each other but there was a row between them. I honestly was very shocked and mad to experience this kind of hate that I've never experienced as someone living in NY and CA.

Just because I am Asian does not mean I have the virus. Just because I had a mask on does not mean I am sick. I didn't know what to do back then, so I just acted like I was sleeping so that she can't ask me to switch seats with her daughter. Now that I think about it, although she didn't do anything to me or say anything to me, I could feel the hate she had towards me because of my race and my mask. Seeing the texts also really made me feel that she and her husband have no knowledge and were just targeting me because I am "Asian." I really hope she learned by now that she should not do this and express her hate towards specific races only because of her fear or whatever it is.