Bigotry or NOT?

[Ken Hutchinson]

No: HPFGUIDX 157683

> 
> > Betsy Hp:
> > I agree that Hagrid is not on the same level. Just as his insult
> > isn't *quite* on the same level of Draco's insult to Hermione. But
> > it's on the same scale, even if it's at a different level. And it
> > points to an underlining issue within the WW. One that JKR has
> > purposefully (IMO) brought to our attention.
> >
> > A good question may well be why? Why does JKR choose to have
> Hagrid
> > say what he says? (I suspect there's a reason.)
> 
> Potioncat:
> I think this is a good question. Why did the author have this
> character speak this way to Filch? Whether or not this is considered
> a full blown act of bigotry, most list members seem to think it was a 
> wrong thing to do. He's putting a negative twist on being a Squib.
> 

Ken:

Most but certainly not all. These were words said in anger in order to
push someone's buttons. Furthermore they are literally correct, Filch
is both a sneak and a Squib. Calling some one who is both habitually
filthy and Jewish a filthy Jew is not the same thing at all as talking
about all Jews in that manner. 

Hagrid strikes me as the least prejudiced of the characters who are
life long members of the magical community. No, he is not politically
correct and God bless him for that! He does not filter his speach, he
says exactly what he is thinking *at the time*. Not every thought that
flits through our heads represents our true core beliefs. Most of us
train ourselves to hide those errant neuron firings from public view,
Hagrid does not. It is the same personality trait that prevents him
from keeping secrets.  If we really lived in the Potterverse and one
of us found ourselves in a position where we had to trust a member of
the magical community who better to petition than Hagrid? He is
remarkably accepting of all sorts of creatures. I think the only Squib
we see him interact with is Filch and the only regular Muggles are the
Dursleys. I cannot fault him his taste in Muggles, I would not
associate willingly or graciously with that group either.

If you *must* see a deeper meaning to Hagrid's choice of words in this
scene why not consider who, among the known Hogwarts staff, is most
Squib-like and who might have a burden of self doubt because of it.
The answer is Hagrid. Is he being a bigot here or is he expressing his
inner feelings of inadequacy by attacking someone else at exactly the
source of his self-doubt? 

> potioncat:

> Stepping up a bit, take out a few LOLLIPOPS and compare this
> situation with Severus calling Lily a dirty mudblood.
> 
> And, for that matter, how does it compare to McGonagall's "worst sort
> of Muggles"?
> 

Ken:

I think Severus's mudblood comment could be seen in the same light as
James's bullying. Young boys really *don't* know how to impress young
girls and adult men are nearly as clueless with adult women. We do
have an innate understanding of the marketing maxim which I will
paraphrase as "scornful attention is better than no attention". I
think it reasonable to assume that Severus might have had some
interest in Lily at the time even if it isn't a motivation for the
adult Snape's action. We know that Draco's prejudice is for real, we
see him express it in too many ways and too many situations for it to
be anything else. With Snape do we really know? He isn't a nice man,
as JKR confirms. What he *is* is really an engima to be resolved in
book 7. But at this point I think we *can* say that Lily/mudblood
*could* have been just a teenaged boys misguided attempt to make a
girl notice him for something other than being the James Gang's victim.

I don't remember the context for Minerva's comment. Certainly every
group into which you could divide humanity has it's "worst sort". It
could be a reflection of the general disdain with which the magical
community views Muggles. I have a sense that she has a core decency
about her that would transcend this in the right circumstances though.

> potioncat:

> While it seems to me JKR is showing how pervasive prejudice is in the
> WW (and RL?) She might be very surprised at this thread. I mean,
> she's the one who doesn't mind using a person's weight against
> someone, yet berates media for encouraging teens to aspire to an 
> image of thin beauty.
>

Ken:

I have to confess I don't know what JKR is thinking or if she would be
surprised by this discussion. In a way her magical community practices
a weird inverted sort of apartheid. It adopts the separation strategy
typical of an oppressed minority while holding the sort of superiority
prejudices typical of the oppressive majority. I can't think of a
parallel in real life and I am not certain what JKR is trying to say
by means of this.

Ken