That "racist" Harry Potter

[cornflower_o_shea]

No: HPFGUIDX 31533

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "coriolan_cmc2001" <coriolan at w...> wrote:
> Just so you know that all the anti-Harry nut cases aren't limited 
to 
> the Christian fundamentalists, here's an oped from the Sydney 
morning 
> Herald decrying both JKR - and that malefactor Tolkien - as racist 
> screeds (not to mention pro-globolization).
> 
> http://www.smh.com.au/news/0112/13/opinion/opinion3.html
> 

Oh my God! How absurd. Of course he didn't read the books, or else 
he is so obsessed with his own ideological interpretations that no 
reading could turn out anything but racist. 
I think the books are, in fact, a fine anti-discrimination read, and 
an excellent springboard for discussions with young adults on tricky 
topics like racism or homophobia. This is particularily so because 
they deal in "wizards" and "muggles" rather than any particular 
group that one might really encounter. The ideas are easier to grasp 
as metaphor, or as generalizations.
eg. You might ask your young reader friend, "Why do you think Aunt 
Petunia calls wizards 'freaks' and Malfoy calls Hermione 
a 'mudblood'? Have you ever heard people words in a way in real 
life? Whose problem is this?", etc.
JK Rowlings goes so far to work in these issues, I only hope she 
doesn't read this guy's crap. What a little Skeeter he is.

-Cornflower O'Shea