[HPforGrownups] Re: Diversity in Media and Literature (WAS No Subject)

[Edblanning at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 40712

Monica:
> --- In HPforGrownups at y..., "aldrea279" <chetah27 at h...> wrote:
> > Eloise:
> > >>I'm going to make a confession. Apart from Cho and the Patil 
> girls 
> > (because 
> > of their names), Angelina who is stated to be black and Lee with 
> his 
> > dreadlocks, I had never really imagined any of the other Hogwarts 
> > students 
> > not to be white. I'm sorry, but there it is. It reflects *my* 
> school 
> > experience.>>
> > 
> > I have to make the same confession as Eloise. I always pictured 
> white 
> > students unless told otherwise, 
> I think the two of you make a good point. If a person is not told 
> what someone's race is they usually think of that person as being 
> White. Even though I am African-American I did the same thing, I just 
> automatically thought that everyone was White. I too did not catch 
> the fact that the Patil sisters were Indian. I also find it sad that 
> everyone is making such a big deal about this. Why is it wrong to say 
> that Dean Thomas is Black but it is okay to say that Ron has red 
> hair. How do we not know that JKR always saw Dean as Black but felt 
> that she had to clarify it for people like me who just assumed that 
> everyone was white unless otherwise told. I think that it was a good 
> idea that they made reference to Dean being black. I think that too 
> often black people don't get to see positive images of themselves, 
> especially in literature. I feel that it is good especially for black 
> children to know wthat they are apart of the world of Harry Potter. 
> For those of you who find it offensive and see it as "tokenism" I 
> think that if you were a person of color and had to too often search 
> to find people that looked like you than maybe you would feel 
> different.
> 

Thank you, Monica. It was good to hear that.
As I said in response to Darrin, it is not the fact that Dean is black, but 
that it was felt necessary to change the text to emphasise it that exercises 
some.

You know, I think we whites get into such a tangle sometimes. We try to be 
inclusive and then go overboard, so that it gets silly, or just don't get it 
quite right and worry that we're going to seem racist, when that's not our 
intention (although, let's face it, all of us have our stereotypes, however 
good our intentions and whatever our colour or background). There's a bit of 
the 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' about the whole situation.

I think you're perfectly right: the change was a clarification, (and thus, in 
my view, perfectly acceptable and understandable) so that it was obvious to 
people like you, or Cindy (for whom the fact that the Patil twins, for 
example, were persons of colour was not obvious) that Hogwarts was a racially 
inclusive community.

I am still left with a question, however. Perhaps you can answer this, 
Monica? 
As an African American, if you were to discover that you were, in fact a 
witch, would you assume that your magical roots would be within the 
European/white American tradition of magic, or within the African? I am 
genuinely interested to know the answer to this. You see, I think that on the 
one level it is perfectly right and proper that Hogwarts should reflect the 
racial composition of Britain. As you say, it portrays a positive image for 
children of colour reading the books. And that is very important - all 
children should have positive images to which they can relate. On another 
level, I feel that it is implying an assumption that all races living in 
Britain should conform to the European magical tradition. (I know that JKR's 
particular brand of magic is an invention of her own, but she *portrays* it 
as a European tradition, doesn't she?) We don't assume that all races should 
follow European traditions of religion, dress, cultural customs, etc. So why 
magic? That, for me, is where there is just a hint of an uncomfortably false 
note of political correctness creeping in. I can imagine (and please correct 
and forgive me if I am wrong) that if I were a witch of African descent 
living in Britain, I should want to send my child to a school where African 
witchcraft was taught, rather than to Hogwarts. 

To make my position clear, though, as I have said before, I am sure that if I 
were fortunate enough to be in JKR's position, I would have made a similar 
change myself. I don't expect children (these books *are* read by children, 
as well as adults ;-) ) to consider the question beyond whether they have 
someone with whom they can identify. And that is, I think, very important, in 
terms both of literary success and of the social responsibility of the author.

Eloise
> 
> 




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