By: Monica Takuma (and Tatum Koby and Lavinya Nasralla)

We drew a comic page of a story where Monica, a Japanese-American, gets pulled a prank by her “friends” because of her ethnicity. Her “friends” try to brush past it by saying that it was just a joke but Monica is fumed. Then, a friendly boy takes her side and helps address the fact that making fun of someone for their race is simply not okay.

There is not one day where a student would not hear something racist in the school campus. Although most of these comments are addressed as jokes, many of these comments discriminate people from their peers. One may be made fun of for their culture, their history, or anything stereotypical. This comic shows just one of the examples of all the different kinds of racism and discrimination a typical high schooler may experience. This is not discussed and is a serious topic as it may cause discomfort for multiple individuals. So, the next time you hear something that would make people feel uncomfortable about themself, take a quick second to take a stand like the guy in the comic.