KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council is tentatively scheduled to introduce a resolution next week to “recognize the growing problem of antisemitism in America.”
The resolution is sponsored by Mayor Quinton Lucas and Councilwoman Andrea Bough.
On Thursday, the Anti Defamation League and the Center for Antisemitism Research released a report that found widespread belief in anti-Jewish tropes is at “rates unseen for decades.”
The study found that 85% of Americans believe at least one anti-Jewish trope in 2022, compared to 61% in 2019.
The percentage of Americans who believe in six or more anti-Jewish tropes - 11 percent in 2019 - is the highest it’s been in “decades,” the report found.
Kansas City’s ordinance references about 30,000 members of the Greater Kansas City Jewish Community.
Language of the non-legally binding resolution would use the working definition of antisemitism from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
In addition to recognizing the growing increase in antisemitism, the resolution would provide the definition of antisemitism to serve as an educational resource for agencies addressing the issue, including the city’s Civil Rights and Equal Opportunity Department and the Kansas City Police Department.
The resolution could be introduced as early as Thursday, Jan. 19.
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