There seems to be a clear divide between people who are extremely fearful, unwilling to get sunlight in their front yard without a mask, and people who are having picnics on the beach and treating the situation like an extended holiday. There are real concerns regarding economic uncertainty, health consequences, food shortage, and much more. It is interesting, however, that the general population and media place so much focus on fearmongering and negatives, as opposed to giving hope and offering recognition for the many positives that have come from the situation. We have seen the best and worst of humanity. To counter the overwhelming pessimism, communities have started to come together, people are supporting each other more than ever, the government has stepped in to provide additional support, and we realize how much can be accomplished when working together. Quarantine, while not ideal for many people, provides us with time to reconsider our personal values, cultural values, and reminds us of what is important in life. In the absence of largely meaningless work and the blind pursuit of money, perhaps people will realize that their families, relationships, mental health, and happiness are much more important. As a society, we have a lot to learn. In contrast, there has been a dramatic rise in hate-crimes and racist events towards Asian people. Racism is an ideology that believes that particular races are inferior or superior to others. It is the opposite of believing that all people are equal, regardless of skin color, race, gender, etc. People are prejudging Asians as being more likely to carry the novel coronavirus, suggesting that they are acting selfishly for being outdoors, hoarding essentials, and assuming that wearing masks (which is culturally normal across Asia regardless of a pandemic) means that they might be dangerous and carrying the virus. This is an example of people holding a prejudice towards Asians, which means that they have a negative prejudgment towards them before actually meeting them. I have even heard an Asian friend scoff at another Asian for carrying toilet paper on the bus, suggesting that they are selfish for purchasing all of the toilet paper. Perhaps they just needed to buy toilet paper. Prejudice is not based on evidence or fact, but rather on ideas that we have been told or created about other people. Discrimination is providing different treatment to people because of their involvement or being apart of a particular group. Prejudice goes hand in hand with discrimination because prejudice leads people to act and treat others differently based on their assumptions. Beyond Trump’s comments and ignorant hate across social media, examples of discrimination that Asians have been experiencing is the refusal to enter and order food at restaurants, travel on airplanes, beat up in the streets, and being disrespected because of their ethnicity. While sad and negative, discrimination is fascinating because it highlights how much humans are actually affected by our socialization and propaganda. In the Western media, it portrays China and Chinese people with masks as having started this pandemic. As a result, east Asian people (people who look ethnically similar to Chinese) have experienced increased discrimination. It does not matter that an Asian family may have been living in North America for several generations, nor that there are more cases of coronavirus in parts of Europe and even the USA. Regardless, many people across the globe are still choosing to be disrespectful and intolerant towards Asians because they have been told that these people are the supposed carriers and perpetrators of the virus.