Letter of the day: Don't ignore the normalcy of north Minneapolis neighbors

There are "regular" people on the North Side, too. In fact, there are thousands of us here. We live in the midst of the gangs and the violence and the extreme poverty that you hear so much about. We are hardworking, middle-class families and individuals. We are senior citizens who have lived on the North Side for decades. We are college students, nurses, teachers, landscapers and truck drivers. We are black, white, Hispanic, Asian and Native American. We hate the violence. We love our neighbors. And we are not leaving. So please don't talk about the North Side as if the rest of us don't exist. It is a very small percentage of people causing all of the misery and getting all of the attention. Stop dehumanizing the North Side.LEAH WESTBERRY, MINNEAPOLIS