Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois , offers " affinity classes " to students of color. According to the school district, the purpose of these classes is to help narrow the gap in academic performance between the races. They are designed to aid black and Latino students whose grades and achievements in the classroom are below those of their white peers, especially in AP courses.

The school's student population is 45% white, 23.4% black, 20.3% Hispanic, and 5.2% Asian. But while courses are optional and class segregation isn't officially required, the district has made it clear they're intended for students of color.

Earlier this year, well-known X account Libs of TikTok posted screenshots of descriptions for a math course at the high school. One states: "The course is restricted to students who identify as Latinx, all genders." The second one reads: "The course is restricted to students who identify as Black male students." In response to this and other criticisms, the school district apparently amended descriptions to read instead, "While open to all students, this option section of the course is intended to support students who identify as 'Latinx' or 'Black.'" Nothing like the soft bigotry of low expectations.

In 1954, the Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional. The decision in Brown v. Board of Education changed the country for the better. In 2023, the pendulum has swung so far to the other side that race-based separation is now an educational good. This is not progress. But almost 70 years since the Brown decision, leftists seemingly view segregation as a net positive .

Most telling of all is the reported lack of results. "The district hasn’t presented any analyses on whether the affinity courses have improved student outcomes," according to the Wall Street Journal. The entire thing is based on nothing but feelings: the feeling that students of color can't or won't succeed when taking difficult classes with white students and the feeling that the only way to boost academic performance is to remove the "threat" of other races.

Some may applaud the new programs, but they are just examples of failure in public education. Students who need additional help should never be turned away because of their race. The deficits that exist are a reflection of both the teachers and parents of these students. The color of someone's skin should never qualify them for special treatment.

Not only does segregation treat students of color as inferior to their peers and incapable of meeting the same in-class standards, but it ignores the white students who need help. The entire thing is an exercise in inequality. The pressure to succeed in high school should be the same across the board.

Administrators who believe this segregation is helpful are only hurting those students who will be required to meet educational and work goals after high school in real-life, mixed-race settings. Unfortunately, Evanston Township High School is not the only school to offer racially segregated courses. A handful of schools in Minnesota, Washington, and California do as well.

Racial segregation in classrooms is always bad, no matter if it's being sold as good and no matter who is selling it. But leftists seem eager to regress to the worst impulses to "balance" things out. In reality, it's just racism. Pure and simple.

Kimberly Ross ( @SouthernKeeks ) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.