Racist! Draco (was Fred and George: The bullies you know)

[Saitaina]

No: HPFGUIDX 43087

Darrian wrote:

<3) Draco is racist. I cannot put in any plainer than that. To 
apologize for Draco is to apologize for a stone-cold racist. 
Therefore, to credibly compare anyone to Draco is to necessarily 
prove that person or persons is also racist. Fred and George are not. 
They do not tinge their humor at anyone group in particular.>

Okay,first of, I have seen NO cannon that points to Draco being a racist.  YES he strikes out against those different then him and some could classify Hagrid as being the target of such but you do need a different RACE to be a racist.  Mudbloods (or muggle-borns for those who prefer) are not a different race, their a genetic miracle.  While the words could have the same...feeling of certain words I will not say here out of respect of the list, it's not a racial remark.  Mudbloods are still humans, still wizzards, still of the same race.

I have grown up with two grandparents and several uncles who are racists, while some actions Draco takes may appear similar, if you look beneath the surface you will find very different motivations for actions.  

Draco strikes out against that which he fears like most humans do.  He fears that something that should be below him (elitism not racism by the way is shown here)is doing better then he is.  Hermione AND Hagrid fall into this category.  

Hermione is top witch, the best of the scholarly best, and she is a mudblood.  In Draco's mind that shouldn't be possible, shouldn't happen.  It also pisses off Lucius and frankly, Lucius doesn't seem the type of father you should piss off. So why not strike out against a mere girl who does things she shouldn't.  In his mind, she needs to be reminded of her place in wizzarding society.  This is elitism at it's worst, not racism.

Hagrid is a nothing that became an authority over Draco.  While some racism comes into call here, (not only for Draco but for Ron and other pure-bloods) it's more of a nothing, a peasant gaining a position of power that irks Draco.  Raised in a family where power is everything I can see this as a blow to his ego.   Also, he fears Hagrid.  He may not have known Hagrid was in fact, a half-giant (he mentions this in GoF), but Draco is a child, and for a child, having the very tall, very scary, mountain man looking Hagrid around is frightening.  We all know that Hagrid wouldn't hurt him but Draco doesn't.

Darrian then wrote:

<Canon clearly shows Draco's racism, in the context of the Wizarding 
world. There is no evidence he feels blacks, for instance, are 
inferior.

But, in the context of Wizard society, he is a open racist. He uses 
the word "mudblood" casually, calmly and with no remorse. Mudblood 
is, given the reactions of those around it, equivalent with the n-
word in the real world.>

Cannon does NOT show his racism.  It shows his elitism and the fact that he's not creative enough to come up with his own insults.  Mudblood may be up there with n- but that doesn't justify Mudbloods as their own race, which they're not.  They're still British (or what have you) wizzards who happen to have won the genetic lottery.  If he called Dean a certain word or called Seamus the Irish equivalent then that would be racism, but mudblood, nice insult but not quite up there yet.   The hatred of that word stems not from it being the insult of n- proportions but because I'm quite sure Mr. Half-Blood himself, Voldemort used it quite often and that gave it it's history.  

I have been called quite a few words I would consider horrible things to say yet they weren't racist remarks.  Just because a word ignites such anger in others doesn't mean it's racist.

Darrian THEN wrote:

<Draco openly calls for Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers to be killed, 
which if you substitute n-word and n-word-lover, is direct descendant 
of the racist beliefs of the KKK and the old Jim Crow laws.>

You could do that, you could also delve into the world of homophobia and say fags and fag-lovers.  You could transfer many words into those two and ignite the same anger and same hatred.  That just proves he had no imagination and really doesn't like Hermione.  Doesn't prove he's a racist.  

I've had people say I shouldn't be allowed in polite society because I'm fat.  I've had people actually threaten to shove explosive devices up certain private areas and press the detonator for the same reason (they also claimed it was because I was a witch but I really think they just didn't like the fat girl).  Being a witch and being fat are not race traits, yet I get death threats and beat up and insults called at me...does that make those who attack me racists, no, that makes them morons.

People, children especially will strike out at those they don't understand.  Draco is a classic example of this.  

Remember, these are my opinions, these are what I see in the books, which makes it neither right, nor wrong but just what I see.  

Feel free to pick apart my post, but please, come up with something more then just what we see on the surface.  Humans are made up of much more then the face we show in public, even Draco.

Saitaina
****
Gandalf dead. Everyone morose. In attempt to cheer up Fellowship, Legolas took off all his clothes and performed scenes from Silmarillion: The Musical. Everyone still morose. Legolas ponced off to have 3,000-year-old elf prince sulk. 
-Peregrine Took's Very Secret Diary
Oh hell, someone wake me when my happy ending starts... I wouldn't want to miss the flying pigs and ice skating demons.   


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