[HPforGrownups] Why do 'purebloods' hate Muggles?

[Sherry Garfio]

No: HPFGUIDX 47293

Hopefully I can get this out before 20 other people post the same ideas <g>.

Chthonia wrote:
> I wouldn't (thankfully) claim to be an expert in genocidal
> conflicts, but from what I do know they tend to be founded on an 
> irresolvable, deep-seated sense of either injustice or threat. To 
> give two examples if the former: I vividly remember discussing the 
> situation in the Balkans with a Serbian colleague about 8 years ago, 
> trying to understand what was going on, and he began by talking about 
> events that had occured 1000 years ago.  Similarly, I've spoken to
> people bitterly embroiled on both sides of the Troubles in Northern 
> Ireland, and both sides had their litany of ills that the other side 
> had perpetrated.
> 
> This is not the case at all in JKR's Wizardingworld,
<snip>

I would tend to disagree that this is not the case in the Potterverse.  As Grey
Wolf has already stated, there was conflict several hundred years ago between
Wizards and Muggles.  I think the witch burnings and the Inquisition *did*
greatly affect the WW.  The Wizards were "superior" to the Muggles, and yet
they were oppressed.  They were oppressed out of fear on the part of the
Muggles, and I think the Wizards *knew* that the Muggles feared them, which
would cause this particular conflict to be especially stressful for both sides.
 And as Grey Wolf also pointed out, it is in the Wizarding history books, with
a pro-witch spin, I would add.

I would also like to add that there is a new threat today against the Wizards:
Muggle technology.  As long as magic gave the Wizards power over the Muggles,
they were not as threatened, and could live in a separate society alongside the
Muggles.  By maintaining the separation, the threat died down as Muggles
relegated witches to the realm of folklore.  Now, the Muggles can imitate a lot
of magic with machines.  Therefore, a Muggle-born Wizard would have the
advantage of *both* magic *and* technology, creating a renewed threat, since
Muggle-born Wizards are "infiltrating" the Wizarding World.

Chthonia continued:
<snip>
> 2)	There is no dilution of wizarding abilities by breeding 
> out/in - quite the reverse.  So the purebloods can't exactly
> complain that magic itself, say, is under threat.

Very true, but as you say, prejudice is, by definition, illogical.  Also, as I
stated above, the introduction of people from the Muggle world into Wizarding
society does create a threat, as Muggle-born Wizards have both magic and
technology at their disposal.

> 3)	The prejudice only seems to apply to parents, not 
> grandparents (as has been discussed on the list before, I think) Eh??!

Not sure why this is true.  Maybe because if your parents are the ones who are
Muggle-born, they are already part of Wizarding society and therefore you are
not causing a new contact to be made with the Muggles.

> 4)	There is no physically observable difference (that we know 
> of) between pureblood/halfblood/Muggle, so people aren't going to 
> immediately look at someone and get a sense of `otherness'
> onto which they can project all the qualities they perceive as 
> undesirable.

It may not be as obvious as the difference between, say, blacks and whites; in
fact, it may not be a visible difference at all.  Perhaps a magical person can
"sense" another person's magical ability or lack thereof.  This is pure
speculation, of course, but the point I'm trying to make is that sometimes
differences are more subtle than what people in racially integrated societies
perceive.

> 5)	Nor is there a cultural difference - once you're a wizard, 
> you're part of the wizarding world, so there isn't a clash of
> values, customs, beliefs etc

Again, Muggle-borns and half-bloods represent a new contact between the two
worlds, and the Death Eaters may perceive that as a threat.  Once you're a
Wizard *born of Wizarding parents* you are indeed part of the Wizarding World,
but if you're a Wizard *born of Muggle parent(s)*, your Muggle relations are
made aware of the Wizarding World, creating the potential for a clash.  This
may be seen as an unacceptable risk for a DE.

> 6)	There doesn't seem to be any economic threat to the 
> purebloods, who seem to be quite comfortably populating the higher 
> echelons of society.

I agree.  Wizards even have their own currency; the two economies appear to be
pretty isolated.

> 7)	The prejudice doesn't appear to be widespread - 
> many `pureblood' families (Weasleys, Longbottoms?) seem quite
> relaxed about it.

There's no need to be prejudiced if you don't perceive a threat.  If you look
at the Nazis, most of them didn't see the Jews as a threat until Hitler started
spouting off about it.  Hitler used propaganda and mis-education about the Jews
to incite people to hate, most of whom had probably never given Jews a second
thought.  There have been many parallels drawn between Hitler and Voldemort. 
All it would take to go from blissful naivete to Death Eater is for a
charismatic person like Tom Riddle to pretend to be your buddy and then start
feeding you scary stories about Muggles and how they're threatening your way of
life.

> Is JKR trying to make the point that prejudice is stupid and wrong so 
> clearly that she's glossing over the ugly and real reasons for
> such behaviours taking root?

Yes, I think she is.  I also suspect that only adult readers (or mature older
children) would ponder this enough to catch the lack of reasons you have
presented here.  It's easy for people on this list to lose sight of the fact
that these books are for *children* (at least that's the way they're marketed
<g>), and putting forth such brutal truths in an obvious way could make them
unsuitable for children.  For children, showing that prejudice is stupid and
wrong is probably enough.  We as adults understand that prejudice usually has a
basis in something, and therefore we go looking for the basis for this
particular brand of prejudice.  Telling kids that prejudice is based on
real-life events may be too much for them; after all, if prejudice is founded,
then why is it wrong?  Adults can make the distinction between "founded" and
"justified".  We also have the background knowledge of world history to fill in
the gaps, so we don't need JKR to spell it out for us.

I see this as evidence of the multi-level meanings that make this series so
wonderful.  I wish it had come along 20 years ago so I could have the
opportunity to read them from a child's perspective and again as an adult.  I
do get the opportunity to see them through my children's eyes, but it's not
quite the same.

> Again, if I've inadvertently offended anyone, please accept my 
> apologies.
> 
> Chthonia

Ditto for me.  I came off moderated status this week, so I don't even have my
List Elf to watch out for me anymore <G>.

-Sherry


=====
"The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers."

      -Dave Barry, "Things That It Took Me 50 Years to Learn"

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