Editorial: A stunning outbreak of antisemitism from a state employee

Social media, where no one ever admits they are wrong, often shows Americans at their worst.

Whether it’s Facebook or X (formerly Twitter), conversations are not known for nuance. People invariably intensify rather than back down and the cursed algorithms privilege and amplify conflict. For that reason, we don’t usually pay online tirades much mind.

But when you read something like “Hitler should have eradicated all of you,” as penned by a senior employee of the state of Illinois, then mind must certainly be paid.

Those nuclear-level words were posted on Instagram by Sarah Chowdhury, who (incredibly) was a legal counsel to Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza. They were written by a lawyer, and the head of the South Asian Bar Association of Chicago to boot.

Mendoza was quick Thursday to fire Chowdhury, who also resigned her South Asian Bar position. She told this newspaper that, in essence, she had been distraught over the Middle East crisis and had temporarily lost her head. She profoundly apologized, which is to her credit.

Still, those are astonishing words coming from a Chicago lawyer; they’d be astonishing coming from anyone. They have the capacity to make the recipient and all Jewish persons feel like their safety is threatened.

After the murder of 6-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume in Plainfield, stabbed 26 times allegedly for being a Muslim and whose name rightly was mentioned in President Joe Biden’s Thursday address to the nation, we called for the people of this state to keep their heads.

The Chowdhury incident, especially when coupled with a separate Thursday report describing Ald. Julia Ramirez, 12th, and an aide being what police called “battered” by a group of Chicagoans protesting the location of a migrant shelter in their neighborhood, suggests a worrying level of anger and dysfunction in our communities. We have the sense that fear is growing and democratic cohesion is fracturing.

On a local level, we might not be able to solve the world’s mighty conflicts and its preponderance of hate and brutality, but we can condemn all politically motivated violence, just as we can temper our language and be kind to our neighbors.

For its entire history, this great metropolis has been home to people of different faiths, origins and points of view. It must remain a safe harbor, and that means we must all keep our heads.

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