Historical redlining and discriminatory zoning once harmed Black families in Evanston. No one disputes that wrong. Yet holding today’s residents—most of whom had no part in those policies—financially accountable amounts to collective punishment, a concept conservatives reject outright.
Merit and personal responsibility should guide policy, not skin color. Programs like school vouchers, vocational training, and small-business incentives would lift struggling families of every background without creating new resentment.
