[HPforGrownups] Mudblood as Racial Epithet: Another take on the "stomp" /Re: Malfoy on the train

[Liz Sager]

No: HPFGUIDX 35041

Ama wrote:
>Draco Malfoy gets the prize for violating the most taboos in one
>mouthful.

*hands Malfoy the gold statuette* Display it with pride. *rolls eyes*

"uncmark" <uncmark at y...> wrote:
> >He jerked his head at Ron and Hermione. "Too late now, Potter!
> >They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and
> >Muggle-lovers  first! Well--second--Diggory was the f--"
> >snip<
>
> > Malfoy's taunts got worse through the book until in my opinion he
> > got what he deserves on the train home.

My mouth dropped open the first time I read that sentence, I had to read it 
about four times to get the full effect of it. Muggle-lover all depends on 
the delivery whether or not it is an insult (here it is an insult, 
obviously), but mudblood is bad. V. bad. And insulting the memory of a dead 
classmate, especially a recently dead classmate, is horrible.

<<snip wonderfully cited part about "Mudblood" in CoS and GoF>>

>My point?  Mudblood is comparable to a racial slur.  It's not
>analogous to calling someone common blood, please, who cares?  No,
>"mudblood" applies to a specific minority, (not necessarily a
>numerical minority), it marks a group for the purpose of humiliating
>them.

Mudblood is no different than (please excuse my language, its just por 
ejemplo) n*gger, sp*c, fag, or that old saying "The only good injun is a 
dead injun." Ethnic/racial slurs are something that shouldn't be tolerated. 
</rant>

Mudblood is not a slur familiar to us, but I'm sure we can
>think of some.  Someone who uses an ethnic slur, especially if it's a
>favourite addition to their vocabulary, is a racist.
>
>uncmark again:
> > Fred and George's part? In my opinion they were watching the back
> > of their brother and his two friends against a trio that they knew
> > to be the sons of Death Eaters.
> >
> > To make it more personal, Lucius Malfoy had almost killed their
> > little sister in CofS with the Tom Riddle Diary and his son is
> > threatening that "They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's
> > back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers..."

>From the fight that Arthur and Lucius engaged in inside of Flourish and 
Blotts in CoS, I would say that Weasleys and Malfoys have an exceptionally 
long history of fighting. Probably began hundreds of years ago when a Malfoy 
spat on a Weasley and the Weasley retaliated (because heaven knows a Weasley 
would never start it ;) and Ron has to get that temper somewhere). While 
they are not wealthy, I have no reason not to speculate that the Weasleys 
aren't as old a family as the Malfoys. The nasty incident with the diary in 
CoS and nearly killing poor Ginny and name calling is adding fuel on the 
fire for the next generation of Weasleys and Malfoys (Malfoy?).

Ama:
>Thanks to uncmark, we can now simply move the train incident into our
>reality.  Who is Draco?  The son of the man who had a hand in your
>sister's/friend's abduction, who comes from a long line of
>illustrious KKK figures and is unrepentant about it.  For whatever
>reason, what does he say?  He speaks ill of the dead, someone who
>died on Sept 11th, glorifies in it, and on top of that, calls your
>friend a, say, n*****.  Now, how do you FEEL?  Pretend you're Draco,
>and say these words yourself.  Imagine insulting someone in this
>manner.  Than imagine you're the one insulted.  How would the
>recipient of the slur react?  You, his friend?  The sibling of the
>abductee?  And so on.

As a person whose good friend died long before his time this summer, I have 
to say that anyone who speaks ill of Cory dies a slow, painful death. The 
grief is still far too near for me to take any insult about him lightly.

>Back to HPverse: We could say Draco doesn't know any better, but
>while Draco thinks calling someone a mudblood is acceptable, he also
>knows it is hurtful.

Ignorance, IMO, is a very bad excuse in any case.

<<snip (extensive) list of Gred and Forge's pranks and jokes>>

I love their senses of humour. :)

F&G have their
>own moral code, but Draco?  A victim of his parents' ideological
>inculcation?  Sure, but he is also a teenager who is exposed to
>diversity and CHOOSES ignorance.  He knows mudblood can scar someone
>deeply, even if he doesn't really understand why.  And yet it's a
>weapon he likes using.

I've said it once in an essay in WH, I'll say it again. Ignorance isn't an 
excuse, and even if people say it is, its not a very good one. Ignorance is 
not bliss, ignorance is ignorance and there's no merit in trying to make it 
anything but. I think if Draco ever learns to get a life and think for 
himself instead of listening to what his father may or may not tell him, 
that he might come out of this war alive.

>F&G step, not stomp, step
>on him, which is symbolic: Draco and his attitudes are beneath them.
>Stepping over may have meant they were over the incident and had
>moved on.  I think stepping ON implies a certain nonchalance but
>without forgiving Draco's words. F&G know while Draco isn't worth
>their efforts, letting off steam is.  It makes them feel better.  And
>one last dig is typical of the immature.  In an odd way, that's
>amusing, and that's F&G all over, cracking jokes as they roll them
>out the door.  It defuses the hex attack.  Now kicking would have
>exacerbated it.

Ooh, most impressive, I like. I didnt think of it necessarily as symbolic, 
more like "He's a Malfoy, he's in my way but he's not going to get out of 
it, so I'll step on him."

<<snip Cindy's Good Guys Don't Sink To The Foe's Level Talk>>
>Oh yes they do.  Good people often lash out and strike below the
>belt, attack, maim and kill when they're pressed to their limits, out
>of sheer frustration and an inability to deal with a foe who
>represents everything they abhor.  Not everyone is blessed with the
>inner fortitude to move on, that's what the strong man does.  Good
>men can be weak and can fail, simply because they are human.  That's
>why it's so hard to identify the good.  Every action yields a
>reaction; this is no less true when faced with evil.  But when moral
>outrage is the response, who are we to decide what is "good"?  Or HOW
>do we decide?   Good is complex.  Something JKR understands very well.

Wow. I likes.

Liz

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