Jewish Goblins?

[jwcpgh]

No: HPFGUIDX 81888

>madeyemood 
> i like all of the distinctions you drew in your post. elegantly 
done. it's easy to 
> confuse an allusion to a certain type of prejudice as buying into 
that prejudice. 
> but, imho, they simply are not the same thing.

Laura, really starting to feel rather annoyed:

Now wait a minute here.  I *never* accused anyone of prejudice-not 
JKR, not Nemi and not Matt.  Nemi said that the whole goblins-are-
good-with-money idea coupled with their separation from the human 
part of the WW made him/her think of the historical position of the 
Jews vis-a-vis the rest of society.  I tried to suggest that Nemi's 
idea was too crude for JKR because IMO she's not trying to draw 
particularistic parallels to any group.   

> madeyemood
> there are a couple of other examples that leap to mind.
> in star trek: deep space nine there was that culture of short 
people with big 
> ears who were obsessed with money...you know: the Quark character, 
the 
> grand Negus, etc. 

Laura:

I'm going to assume that you are not familiar with the history of 
European anti-semitism.  Suffice it to say that if someone had wanted 
to create a very ugly sterotype of a Jew according to the images 
popular in Europe up to the middle of the last century, they couldn't 
have come much closer than the money-handling, ugly but smart, not-
exactly-human goblin.  Which is *exactly* why I don't think JKR 
intended any such thing.

 madeyemood: 
> South Park, one of whose writer's is jewish, perpetuates scandalous 
ideas about both the jews and the people dumb enough to judge them 
for being jewish.  the coen brothers also did parodies of the jewish 
studio  head in Barton Fink.
> 
Laura:

Surely you know that members of a group joking about that group is 
quite a different thing than non-members doing the same thing.  If 
the people from South Park or the Coen brothers choose to take their 
jokes public, that still doesn't make it okay for non-Jews to say or 
do the same things.  You can substitute the name of any other 
minority group for Jews and it would be equally true.
<snip>

> madeyemood
> anyway, it is a shame that discussing an aspect of the book so 
easily devolves into baseless accusation. alas, that's the way with 
tribal injury. a lot of those wounds are still sore.

Laura:

I made no accusation and I'm quite irate that you say I did.  I'd 
suggest you go back and re-read my replies to Nemi and Matt. I don't 
agree with them but I have no reason to think they meant anything 
unkind by their remarks.  They're entitled to their perspectives as I 
am to mine.  

Let me point out to you that Jews are not a tribe.  That's a title 
imposed from outside.  We consider ourselves a people.   And maybe 
you can understand now why  "a lot of those wounds are still sore."