To the Journal editor:

I came to Marquette in my 20s for work. I have been here ever since. I raised my three children here. They went through the Marquette Area Public Schools. They are all adults now.

I love Marquette. I have been here longer than anywhere else. I will be 67 this year and don’t plan to leave.

I have seen this city change so much since 1982. There have been some things lost, but a lot of ground gained. We have so much to be proud of and enjoy because we have evolved from an industrial shipping port city of an era past to a growing mecca for education, outdoor recreation, and innovation. We are thriving.

The one thing we still lack in large measure is diversity. We resist cultural change even though change is all around us and benefits us all. We can be proud of our history but embrace our evolution to a more accepting community willing to consider the perspectives of other non-white, non-European community members.

This should also include our Native American neighbors and friends, the actual original inhabitants of this area.

When they respectfully ask us to forgo using Native American images and nicknames for our school teams because of the disrespect they feel and the harm it does their developing children, we should be glad to comply. It’s been decades that they’ve been asking.

It is time for change. We are ready. This is us.

VIRGINIA KILLOUGH

Marquette