Local Jewish studies professor asks Biden about white supremacy | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Local Jewish studies professor asks Biden about white supremacy 

 

Professor Joel Berkowitz, who is director of the Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies at University of WisconsinMilwaukee, asked President Joe Biden about “white supremacy and conspiracies that align with it.” 

 Biden visited Milwaukee in mid-February. At a CNN Town Hall event with Biden at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee on Feb. 16, Berkowitz was called on from the audience by host Anderson Cooper. Berkowitz asked of white supremacy and conspiracies, “What can your administration do to address this complex and wide-ranging problem?” 

Biden said answers could come from the focus of the federal Justice Department, studies on the topic and a focus on how to address the issue. “As Lincoln said, we have to appeal to our better angels,” Biden said.  

Also, Biden expressed regret to Berkowitz, introduced as a foreign language professor, that despite five years of French education he can’t speak the language. 

To that, Berkowitz responded, “I’ll teach you some Yiddish some time. How’s that?” Biden brightened and answered: “I understand a little bit of Yiddish.” 

Cooper chimed in: “It would be a shonda if you didn’t.”