Adidas says it’s ending its partnership with musician and fashion designer Ye following recent antisemitic comments. 

The rapper — formerly known as Kanye West — has come under fire for a series of remarks against the Jewish community. 

Locally, Chicago’s Commission on Human Relations says hate crimes are up in the city by 71%. The most frequent targets being Jewish and Black residents. 

David Goldenberg, Midwest Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, says the latest numbers follow a worrying trend.

“We know that these numbers are up and in fact, it is just a continuation frankly of what we’ve seen over the last four or five years,” Goldenberg said.  

The Anti-Defamation League has been tracking antisemitic incidents since 1979, and Goldenberg says the trends are quite concerning.

“Between 2016 and 2021, ADL tracked 430% increase in antisemitic incidents here in Illinois,” he said.

However, many of hate crimes go unreported.

“First and foremost, there’s a lack of trust between many marginalized and targeted communities and law enforcement. Individuals who are victims don’t feel safe going to police,” Goldenberg said.

Recently, the Chicago Police Department has decided not to fire the officer affiliated with the Proud Boys. The Proud Boys are a right-wing extremist group, labeled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. 

“We know that this particular incident really is just one example of a really big problem and that is extremists who are infiltrating law enforcement,” he said.

The ADL released a report identifying thousands of individuals in the military, law enforcement, elected officials and first responders who were listed as Oath Keepers, another far-right extremist group.

The ADL identified 21 members of Illinois law enforcement, though no names have been revealed.  

Goldenberg believes hate needs to stop being normalized. 

“That requires us to speak out. It requires us to share facts and respond to misinformation,” he said. “It requires us to all show strength together so that when this type of antisemitism, when this type hate shows it ugly face, we collective as a community shove it back underneath the rock from which it came.”