Learn from reminders of hateful past

As a Realtor for more than 40 years, I have seen the hateful and now illegal covenants on the paperwork of several properties in the suburbs. I'm glad that they are finally being addressed.

I don't feel, however, that they should just be erased or omitted. I feel that they should be crossed off, perhaps by diagonal lines so the words are still legible, so that their existence on the original documents can be verified. Otherwise, in the future, some people might not believe they ever existed. Those printed words are proof that discrimination in housing did exist but has now been corrected, at least for that property.

We can't erase our past, but we can learn from it.

Sue Gould

Palatine