Earlier this week, JCUA was honored to participate in the Chicago Commission on Human Relations (CCHR) hearing on anti-Jewish hate crimes and incidents in the City of Chicago. Hearings like this are an essential step in acknowledging the threat of antisemitism and working toward real solutions. We look forward to continuing to partner with City leaders to ensure Chicago remains a safe place for Jewish residents and for all communities.

Our Testimony

Jackie Baldwin, JCUA’s Director of Antiracism & Equity, delivered testimony on behalf of JCUA, emphasizing that the City must focus on addressing the root causes of antisemitism, and that each of us has a role to play. Jackie outlined three key strategies the City should prioritize:

• Inclusion: Ensure Jews are meaningfully included in interfaith and multi-ethnic civic spaces, alongside Chicago’s diverse communities.
• Education: Invest in training for City employees, partners, and the broader public that emphasizes the history and function of antisemitism and its intersections with other forms of oppression.
• Connection: Create opportunities for communities to come together across race, faith, and neighborhood, with the mayor and alderpeople modeling solidarity and relationship-building.

Jackie also warned against misusing concerns about antisemitism to advance agendas that undermine civil rights: “Under the umbrella of the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther, we are witnessing a destructive agenda carried out in the name of Jewish safety. This agenda harms Jews and all people who have come together to make civil and human rights possible in this country.”

You can read Jackie’s full testimony below.

We are grateful that the Commission brought together a diversity of voices for this hearing. We know that Jews are not a monolith — we hold differences in politics, race, socioeconomic status, and more. It was disappointing that some speakers chose to discredit or erase members of the Jewish community because of differing political views. Recognizing our diversity is essential, and it is vital not to erase or marginalize any experience or identity within the community.

In conjunction with our organizing and advocacy work, JCUA will continue to offer training and education on combatting antisemitism for our members, congregation, community partners, elected officials, and others. We look forward to working with CCHR and City leaders to expand meaningful responses to anti-Jewish hate crimes.

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Shalom, I am Jackie Baldwin, a lifelong Chicago resident and Director of Antiracism & Equity at the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs.  For 61 years, JCUA has brought together the Jewish community to pursue justice in our city and state. We connect, train, and mobilize Jews to end poverty, racism and antisemitism in multi-faith, multiracial coalitions.

Dismantling antisemitism has been central to JCUA’s mission since our founding. We pursue our work with an understanding of how antisemitism and other forms of oppression intersect. We know that many Jews, experience violence and marginalization based on multiple identities and experiences, as a Black Jew I experience antisemitism AND anti-Black racism. Dismantling anti-Jewish hate and all forms of bigotry, discrimination, and oppression requires us to build solidarity and collaboration between Jews and our neighbors. This approach informs every aspect of JCUA’s work.

Right now, anti-Jewish hate crimes are on the rise here in Chicago and across the country, directly harming Jews and negatively impacting non-Jews and our democracy as a whole. Under the umbrella of the Heritage Foundation’s Project Esther, we are witnessing an anti-democratic agenda be carried out in the name of Jewish safety — including attacks on free speech, due process, academic freedom, and more. This agenda harms Jews and all people who have come together to make civil and human rights possible in this country.

We applaud the City for convening and seeking solutions to the rise of anti-Jewish hate crimes. Just outsourcing this to law enforcement will not address all of our safety needs. If we are to make real progress, we must address the root causes, and each one of us has a responsibility to participate. These are strategies we know to be effective:

First, make sure that Jews are meaningfully included in interfaith and multi-ethnic spaces organized by the City, alongside members of Chicago’s many diverse faith and ethnic communities.  

Second, invest in education that shares the City of Chicago’s values of equity and justice and provide this for city employees, partner organizations and the broader community. JCUA has led antisemitism training for elected officials and community organizations, and is here as a resource in how to reach people across cultural differences and in alignment with the City’s values.

Finally, focus on connecting communities.  The biggest driver of hate is fear, which comes from not knowing our neighbors and leads to othering. The City should commit to partnering with and investing in organizations and programs that create spaces for people to come together across race, ethnicity, faith, and neighborhood lines. Alderpeople should lead this effort by creating those conversations in their wards and by modeling values of solidarity that build Beloved Community.

By centering education that aligns with the City’s values, relationships, and root-cause solutions, the City will make Chicago safer for Jews — and for everyone.