Kowalko criticized for use of 'shylocks' toward Markell

Gov. Jack Markell's rabbi is criticizing Rep. John Kowalko for using an anti-Semitic remark in reference to Markell, the only sitting Jewish governor in the United States.

Kowalko, a Newark Democrat, used the term "shylocks" toward Markell and top education officials during an outburst at a Christina school board meeting Tuesday.

Rabbi Yair Robinson, of Congregation Beth Emeth in Wilmington, called the term "deeply offensive" and an "awful thing to say."

Markell is a member of Robinson's congregation.

"Whether it was intended as such or not, it was hate speech," Robinson said Friday. "And hate speech must always be combated in public."

Shylock, long considered an anti-Semitic term, is the name of a Jewish character in Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice," a villainous moneylender who demands a "pound of flesh" from a merchant who defaults on a loan.

Markell also weighed in. "The governor thinks the use of any discriminatory slur weakens our unity as Americans," said Kelly Bachman, his spokeswoman.

Kowalko used the term while criticizing Markell and top officials at the Delaware Department of Education for a plan to turn around six low-performing Wilmington schools.

"There's a palpable sense of fear. I see it in the eyes of the governor. I see it in the eyes of [Education Secretary Mark] Murphy ... and the rest of them shylocks that they have down there that are trying to sell you a bill of goods."

Robinson and Kowalko traded emails about the remarks Friday. "You are absolutely right. There is no room for hate speech in Delaware," Kowalko wrote to Robinson. "Let me convey my unqualified apologies for uttering the word 'shylock' in my remarks at the school board meeting."

The rabbi also called out Kowalko's remarks on Twitter, writing "No room 4 antisemitism in DE Apologize!"

Kowalko circulated an apology earlier this week, saying he did not intend to use the word. "My sincerest regrets to any and all that I may have unintentionally offended," Kowalko said by email.

Robinson had not seen the earlier apology.

"I am not anti-Semitic," Kowalko said when reached Friday. "That was not the word I intended to use. I do understand the context, that it's a derogatory term. I don't think I have to apologize for some kind of attempt to denigrate someone. Certainly I should choose my words better. I certainly apologize for using that word. It was never my intention."

Kowalko also issued a public apology on his Facebook page Friday.

Vice President Joe Biden apologized in September after his use of "shylock" drew a rebuke from the director of the Anti-Defamation League.

Biden used the term in reference to lenders who prey on military members, while recalling interactions that his eldest son, then-Attorney General Beau Biden, experienced while serving with the Delaware Army National Guard in Iraq.

"That's one of the things that he finds was most in need when he was over there in Iraq for a year," Biden said. "People would come to him and talk about what was happening to them at home in terms of foreclosures, in terms of bad loans that were being ... I mean these shylocks who took advantage of these women and men while overseas."

Biden later apologized, saying he used a "a poor choice of words."

Staff reporter Matthew Albright contributed to this story.

Contact Jonathan Starkey at (302) 983-6756, on Twitter @jwstarkey or at jstarkey@delawareonline.com.