The downtown area of Naperville is the prize of our city filled with wonderful businesses, clean streets, and beautiful art. Among this art stands the cherished “Naperville Loves a Parade.”
The mural was planned and created in 2010 and accurately represented the racial diversity at the time. Even still, the art received criticism last year from Downers Grove resident Tyler Marcus who believed that it did not represent Naperville’s growing diversity.
Marcus, in addition to Sun Kwok, Tony Andrews, and Crystle Saylor, spearheaded the movement calling for a revamp of the mural and raised the support of over 47,000 people, many of whom weren’t even residents of Naperville.
The result was for future murals to show the more diverse community of modern Naperville. Out of this victory came the establishment of Art of Inclusion, a group based in Naperville that is dedicated toward the creation of inclusive art that promotes unity in our community.
Although this mission statement is undoubtedly pure, some in our community questioned the modification of a mural that reflected our past, even if it was outdated. Is it worth risking forgetting our past if we can attempt to properly include the minority population in our community?
The history of Naperville is tarnished with the mistreatment of people of color and although it’s unlikely anyone here today is responsible for this abuse, there still is this lingering guilt. But we can’t change the past, so there is no reason to lose sleep over it.
What we can do is make every effort to ensure that those around us are included, regardless of color or creed. We also can’t forget the past, so all we can do now is look forward together and not make the same mistakes again.
