Op-Ed: There is No Ethical Path to Voting for Paul Vallas

On April 4, we have the choice to face our past and rectify it—or to deny it altogether. 

This election is not rare in having two imperfect candidates squaring off. It is rare because the battle we face is rooted in the eternal American debate about race and our history, and carries huge implications for the future of our country.  In this debate, there is no ethical path that allows a vote for Paul Vallas.

We don’t come to this conclusion lightly.  We are a group of Chicagoans who work across policy areas—education, arts and culture, neighborhood development, and housing—and none of us are wedded to electoral politics. We stay dreaming and working for a better Chicago, no matter who is in office.

But who is in office matters deeply to this work. 

These two candidates represent starkly different positions in the racial justice movement. On one end, we have Brandon Johnson, a former educator and current Cook County Commissioner, who is responsible for the public safety of 400,000 constituents. 

He is unequivocal on issues of race, segregation, and how government policies of the past directly targeted and harmed communities of color. With this approach, he sees what is necessary to make real opportunities possible for all Chicagoans: a holistic system of care, weaving together investments in public education, housing, mental healthcare, and youth programs. 

While Johnson speaks clearly about race, Paul Vallas speaks in code. His campaign has reduced the complex challenges of our vibrant city to public safety as the singular issue, and policing as the only answer.

This echoes the rhetoric espoused by Trump and Fox News every time Chicago is brought into a conversation. Vallas’s dog-whistles signal his subscription to far-right views, while weaponizing Chicagoans’ fear and their rightful desire to be safe in their city.

In all his focus on policing, Vallas fails to acknowledge that for many communities in Chicago, police do not mean safety. The Chicago Police Department is under federal monitoring due to its “racially discriminatory policing practices as well as widespread police abuse.” 

Vallas opposes naming this history of police abuse, and prefers to not talk about the problem.  This aligns with the views of groups funding anti-masking lawsuits, anti-trans legislation, and book bans to rewrite American history—as if the Civil War was not fought over slavery or as if January 6 was a casual tourist trip to D.C. 

Indeed, these groups see Vallas’ candidacy as a test of how to infiltrate Democratic politics through a candidate who flirts with their ideology. In Vallas, they find a perfect Trojan horse to recruit for their movement: someone desperate enough to say whatever is needed to court the funding necessary for a big-city election.

As Chicagoans who believe our collective future is inherently tied to how we understand our past, we disagree with Paul Vallas’s vision for the future of Chicago.

We know that in order to heal our city, we have to not only acknowledge history, but be accountable for past wrongs and make amends so that this history does not repeat itself. This is not an abstract statement. 

The cost of inequity and segregation in the Chicago region is billions of dollars in lost income, lost lives and lost potential each year, according to a Metropolitan Planning Council research study. If metro Chicago were less segregated, the research team found, it could see $4.4 billion in additional income each year, a thirty percent lower homicide rate and 83,000 more bachelor’s degrees. We know that a more racially equitable city is the way to ensure a safer, more vibrant Chicago for all of us.   

In James Baldwin’s words, “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”   

We believe in a future for our city that is honest about where we have been and clear-eyed about where we must change. We believe our future mayor must understand the realities of segregation and inequity—and the root causes of violence—in order to bring solutions from and with the communities that have experienced the greatest harm in our history. 

We believe Brandon Johnson has demonstrated the courage to look back at our history, and the conviction to move our city forward.  

This election is about what we value, and the unwavering judgment necessary to stand for what’s right. In this election, our values call us to vote for Brandon Johnson.

Paola Aguirre, Niketa Brar, Tonika Johnson, Lisa Yun Lee, and Hilesh Patel are a group of Chicagoans who work in the field of racial equity, as cultural activists, organizers, and philanthropists. Together, they have launched numerous creative spaces for dialogue and culture shift, including The Folded Map Project, Inequity for Sale, Creative Grounds, the National Public Housing Museum, and The People’s Budget Chicago. They care deeply about recognizing Chicago’s past as well as building her future.