Bigotry or NOT? Re: CHAPDISC:HBP19,Elf Tails

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 157605

Ceridwen wrote:
> I won't speak for Magpie, but I will speak for myself.  It was
unnecessary for Hagrid to add the 'sneakin' Squib' part.  I 
understand why he did it - he was under some stress at the moment, 
worried about Ron in the hospital, having a private talk with some 
friends, and suddenly having his authority challenged on top of it  all.
> 
> You're right about Filch not respecting Hagrid's position.  Seeing
two students out past curfew with a teacher should have made him go 
on about his business.  Instead, he saw Hagrid, the person who for so
long has been 'just' the gamekeeper and keeper of the keys, not 
someone in some exalted position as an instructor.  And, as many 
people, including you, I think, have mentioned, the animosity between
Filch and Hagrid seems to go way back. <snip>
> 
> Still, it was Hagrid thoughtlessly using a WW prejudice, even if in
 his daily life he has nothing against Squibs as a group or 
individually.  It was singling Filch out as Different and Less-than.
It sets him apart and demotes him to ascribed status, in fact, to his
 Master Status as far as the WW is concerned.  It is a society 
prejudice, part of the culture.  It is acceptable because others are 
worse, it is acceptable because no one really gives it any thought.
> 
> When people are tightly strung, as Hagrid probably was that night,
and they are challenged by someone who is adversarial toward them, 
they lash out with something they know will hurt.  'Sneakin' Squib'
would hurt Filch, so Hagrid uses it.  Their conversation does 
escalate after this, so it must have touched some nerve in Filch.
> 
> We know that Filch is sensitive to his status.  He tried to conform
by taking the Kwickspell course.  He admits, almost confesses, to 
being a Squib.  Being a Squib is a handicap in the WW: Filch lacks a 
normal function of his world.  He seems to be sensitive about it, so 
it shouldn't be used as a weapon against him. <snip>

Carol responds:
I think Ceridwen has described the situation beautifully and I hated
to snip any of her post. Hagrid's insult *does* hit filch where it
hurts whether Hagrid intends it to or not. But Hagrid's insults tend
to be generic, perhaps because he's not very imaginative--"sneakin'
Squib!" matches "ruddy nags!" for the Centaurs and "a great Muggle
like you" for Vernon Dursley. It also, as Ceridwen says, reflects the
prejudices of the WW: Phineas Nigellus does much the same thing when
he hears that Mundungus Fletcher has been stealing from 12 GP: he
calls him a "mangy old Half-Blood" (HBP 260). Maybe it isn't bigotry
per se, but it's certainly categorizing people and using their "blood"
or their lack of magical ability or (in the case of the Centaurs)
their nonhuman, nonwizard status as an insult. 

It's true that Hagrid doesn't like Filch and that Filch provoked him,
but Hagrid should not, IMO, have taunted Filch with the painful fact
of his inferiority or used his status as a nonmagical person to insult
him. It's rather like a man saying, "Shut up, woman!" to a female
colleague. Highly unprofessional in my view, whether or not he was
provoked.

Hagrid's behavior illustrates, for me, the way the WW views itself as
superior to all other cultures. Although he's not a pureblood or even
fully human and consequently doesn't share the Slytherin pureblood
ethic, Hagrid shares other WW prejudices, including the view that
Wizards of both sexes are superior to Muggles and that humans are
superior to nonhumans (note his treatment of the Centaurs). Even his
attempt to civilize Grawp (which may be partly overcompensation--
"Blood's important!") reminds me of his affection for dangerous
creatures like dragons. I don't think he sees "Grawpy" as his equal
(and understandably so) even if they are "brothers." I doubt that he
considers Goblins and House-Elves as his equals, either. Very few
Wizards do, apparently.

Carol, who doesn't believe that any of the prejudice we see in the WW
is based on *race* per se though some of it is based on "blood" (the
perceived amount of magic in the blood of a person's ancestors)