CAIR-Chicago Stands with Mayor Brandon Johnson in Affirming Equal Protection Against All Hate Crimes

(CHICAGO, IL, 3/27/2026) — The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Chicago office (CAIR-Chicago), today expressed its strong support for Mayor Brandon Johnson’s position that all hate crimes must be addressed with equal urgency and seriousness, amid ongoing public debate following the resignation of Chicago Commission on Human Relations Commissioner Nancy Andrade.

Recent reporting has highlighted tensions surrounding a Human Relations Commission report initially focused on antisemitism, which was later broadened to address all forms of hate.

Some officials, including Alderwoman Debra Silverstein, have regularly pressed the commission to prioritize confronting anti-Jewish hate crimes, particularly following a reported rise in such incidents.

CAIR-Chicago unequivocally condemns anti-Jewish hatred and stands in solidarity with the Jewish community against hate, discrimination, and violence.

At the same time, we echo Mayor Johnson’s clear and principled stance that Chicago must reject any framework that treats one form of hate as more urgent than others. As Mayor Johnson stated, “when harm happens to one particular group, it happens to all of us.”

“We must not fall into the trap of selective outrage or a hierarchy of victimhood. Justice demands moral clarity, consistency, and courage,” CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab.

CAIR-Chicago also draws attention to the growing and deeply concerning rise in cases of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bullying, doxxing, harassment and hate crimes its offices have received—both locally and nationally – particularly at the heels of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran. The alarming level of anti-Muslim animus being promoted at the moment can no longer be met with muted responses at institutional levels locally and nationally.

Muslim communities in Chicago continue to face:

Increased incidents of harassment and intimidation in public spaces
Bullying, doxxing and discrimination targeting Muslim students in schools and places of employment
Online hate speech translating into real-world threats. Researchers at the Center for the Study of Organized Hate have documented an 11-fold amplification of online anti-Muslim hate in recent weeks. (A recent post by CAIR-Chicago marking the international day to combat Islamophobia received over 5,000 anti-Muslim comments for example).
Disproportionate targeting of visibly Muslim women, particularly those who wear hijab.
Anti-Muslim hatemongering by public officials.

These trends mirror national data and reflect a broader climate of fear that cannot be ignored. In CAIR’s 2026 National Civil Rights Report, CAIR-Chicago reported 877 complaints in 2025, a 65 percent increase over 2024.

“The uncomfortable truth is that there is a clear double standard in how officials and institutions have responded to antisemitism versus Islamophobia in this country. At the university, stringent measures including freezing of federal funding, blocks on student registration, mandatory trainings and even withholding degrees have been taken place where antisemitism has been alleged, whereas complaints of anti-Muslim bias and erasure have been ignored or downplayed,” Rehab said.

SEE: CAIR-Chicago Says Northwestern’s Termination of Promised Muslim Cultural & MENA Community Spaces Is Discriminatory and Retaliatory Capitulation to Federal Pressure

“At the federal level, the disparity is even more pronounced. Allegations of antisemitism trigger special congressional hearings and investigations that are denied when patterns of anti-Muslim hatred are alleged. Ironically, congress itself now houses a 55 member-strong anti-Muslim caucus whose members have compared Muslims to dogs and declared that ‘Muslims don’t belong here,’ and that ‘Muslims are the enemy within’ among other things,” Rehab added.

“The level of hateful rhetoric at this level of government is unmatched but has been met with no official censure whereas congress’ only Palestinian-American representative was censured by 234 members of congress after she called for Palestinian freedom throughout the entire Holy Land.”

CAIR-Chicago commended Mayor Johnson for resisting political pressure to narrow the scope of the City’s response to hate crimes and for affirming that Chicago’s civil rights infrastructure must serve all communities equally.

“A community’s right to be respected and protected should not be proportional to its political capital and access. A just society does not rank suffering, nor does it politicize it. We cannot allow those who exhibit selective outrage to dictate our public policy here in Chicago or anywhere. We urge all elected officials, including Alderwoman Debra Silverstein, to work collaboratively toward policies that strengthen protections for every community facing hate and discrimination,” Rehab said.

“Our city’s moral clarity will be measured not by whom we prioritize, but by whether we stand for everyone – ‘ALL of Chicago’ as former commissioner Andrade emphasized in her outgoing statement.”

CAIR-Chicago remains committed to working with city leaders, interfaith partners, and community stakeholders to ensure that Chicago leads the nation in advancing a comprehensive, inclusive approach to combating hate in all its forms.

CAIR-Chicago’s mission is to defend civil rights, fight bigotry, and promote tolerance

Click here to subscribe FREE to Ray Hanania's Columns

About
Latest Posts

Ray Hanania

Syndicated columnist, radio host, writer at Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].

Follow RayHanania at Twitter