A Naperville human rights commissioner, publicly criticized for a controversial social media post in which he urged African Americans to “unshackle” themselves, resigned from his position last month, but he and the mayor deny the statement had anything to do with his departure.
Mayor Scott Wehrli said he recommended Nag Jaiswal step down from the Human Rights and Fair Housing Commission because he wasn’t attending meetings.
Jaiswal, who served on the commission for 18 months, maintains he left of his own volition because he was no longer interested in being part of the advisory panel.
Both say the timing was coincidental and Jaiswal’s exit not related to a statement he posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Jan. 24, just a few days before the pair spoke. In the post, which has since been removed, Jaiswal wrote:
“Dear African American Brothers and Sisters: New arrivals in town. Arriving in millions, unchecked at the border ready to replace you. The system that kept you poor, dependent & unskilled will start ignoring you and then abandon you. Wake up. Unshackle. Vote wisely. #CloseTheBorder #VoteRedToSaveAmerica”
Jaiswal, an unsuccessful candidate for Naperville City Council in 2023 and Naperville Park Board in 2021, resigned his commission post on Jan. 31.
His departure became known on Feb. 6, when several residents attended a city council meeting that night to object to Jaiswal’s message, which they cited as offensive and racist.
“The enslavement shackling of my people ended in 1863,” longtime Naperville resident Antonia Harlan said. “We wear no shackles, nor do we fit his ignorant description. We, despite our history, have advanced in the face of adversity.”
She called Jaiswal’s statement “microaggressive, racist and offensive against African Americans.”
Regina Brent, founder and president of local nonprofit Unity Partnership, reminded the council “that we constantly have to work as a people to build relationships and partnerships that (are) conducive for us to be safe in our communities.”
To Jaiswal, she said, “When you use the words shackle, unskilled, ignoring, after we’ve built this country, I think it was a hit below the belt.” She lauded city officials for having “taken the time to alleviate the situation,” referencing Jaiswal’s resignation.
But the resignation and the post were unrelated, both Jaiswal and Wehrli said.
“I think the timing certainly is something that was apparently unfortunate,” Wehrli said after the meeting.
“It has nothing to do with my resignation,” Jaiswal sain in a separate interview. “It is a coincidence.”
Rather, the problem was with Jaiswal’s attendance, according to Wehrli.
Jaiswal was appointed to the commission in July 2022. Of the five meetings held over that time, Jaiswal attended two and missed three, according to minutes published online.
For most of the time Jaiswal was on the commission, regular attendance was an expectation but not a formal requirement. At the end of last year, however, the council codified attendance expectations and amended ordinances to require that members attend at least 75% of the meetings held.
Three weeks after the new requirement went into effect, Jaiswal again did not attend commission meeting in January.
Wehrli called a meeting with Jaiswal and Naperville City Manager Doug Krieger on Jan. 30 to discuss his attendance. A day later, Jaiswal tendered his resignation.
At the meeting, Wehrli said they discussed how Jaiswal was “not meeting the expectations of the attendance requirement.” Asked if he requested Jaiswal resign, Wehrli said, “Well, I suggested that be how it’s handled. I mean, if he’s having a problem with the attendance and (is) not able to meet the requirements, that that would be the recommendation.”
Jaiswal’s resignation letter, dated Jan. 31, makes no mention of his attendance. In the letter, released by the city, Jaiswal said, “My reason to relinquish the position is due to lack of active initiatives or agenda on the commission.”
Jaiswal expanded on that statement in an interview with the Sun, saying “absolutely nothing was happening” with the commission and he believed his “time would be better utilized in (other) areas.”
In two separate interviews, Jaiswal said he was not asked to resign.
“My concern was the human rights commission … has zero activity. And it is just a waste on everybody’s time. If it has no activity, why (does) that commission exist?” he said.
Jaiswal maintains the commission was largely inactive through his term and that as a commissioner, he “was not positively contributing.”
“If my job is to volunteer to help the community, I was not doing it, right?” he said.
The purpose of Naperville’s Human Rights and Fair Housing Commission is to act as a point of contact on community issues related to housing, unlawful discrimination and unfair housing practices. It does so by hearing resident complaints that fall into one of two categories: public accommodation issues or allegations of discrimination in a housing situation, said Geneace Williams, Naperville’s diversity, equity and inclusion manager and staff liaison to the human rights commission.
When there aren’t active complaints, the commission may deal with other housing-related matters, such as “reports that could come on housing or expansion of housing within the city,” Williams said. Sometimes, though, meetings are canceled. It just depends, “if there’s other business for the commission to undertake,” Williams said.
Jaiswal said he had only dealt with one complaint as a commissioner during the year and half he was on the board. Minutes of the meetings show he was absent for discussions held on a second complaint.
Jaiswal’s appointment was to expire August, he said. There are three meetings scheduled before then, but Jaiswal said he saw no reason to stay because “just having the title and doing nothing, that’s not the right thing.”
Jaiswal said he remains interested in serving on a city board or commission “if the mayor and the city council think that my services are required.”
As for his post to X — even if unrelated to his commission decision — Jaiswal said he regrets “whatever hurt it caused for others.”
It was a matter of “misinterpretation” resulting from not being an English-born speaker, he said.
“English is not (my) first language, so how I write or how I speak could offend a lot of people, so might as well just regret it and carry out whatever work I have to do in the future,” he said.
Jaiswal acknowledged he was aware of the city social media policy for board and commission members, which says posts and/or comments on social media sites using personal accounts are allowed but members should show the same decorum displayed during board and commission meetings.
Jaiswal doesn’t think he “deviated from any policy” with his Jan. 24 post, but said he’s taken the situation seriously.
“The reality is, sometimes these social media posts, even with a good intent, can be misinterpreted. … Going forward, I would use my words carefully.”
