Salazar, Slytherins and Bigotry

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 179974

--- "lizzyben04" <lizzyben04 at ...> wrote:
>
> 
> > bboyminn:
> > 
> > ...
> > 
> > ...
> > 
> > According to to ghostly Professor Binns, Slytherin didn't 
> > TRUST muggleborns, and by extension, muggles. No indication
> > that he hated them all and wanted them all dead. 
> <snip>
> > So, the danger was great and very real. Consequently Salazar
> > have very real reasons to worry about muggles.
> ...
> 
> 
> lizzyben: 
> 
> I think that all these theories about the Founder's backstory
> are really interesting, but perhaps more interesting than 
> JKR intended. ..., she posted Godric Gryffindor & Salazar 
> Slytherin as the "Wizards of the Month". Godric Gryffindor 
> was described as an "enlightened fighter against Muggle-
> discrimination," and Slytherin was described as a "notorious
> champion of pure-blood supremacy." There's nothing there about
> Slytherin being afraid of Muggle-borns, or not trusting them;
> no hints of an unknown complex backstory. He's a *notorious*
> champion of pure-blood supremecy - IOW, a fanatical bigot. ...
> 
> 
> lizzyben
>

bboyminn:

In the books, history say he doesn't trust Muggle and 
Muggleborns, outside the books, JKR uses the term 'supremacy'
but how literally are we to interpret that? 

Keep in mind that Britian still has the Aristocracy, they still
have the House of Lords. But that doesn't mean that Lords and
Ladies think that all common people should be killed, only that
the Aristocracy is intellectually superior and therefore 
necessary to effectively rule the country. 

So, I concede the Slytherin believed in the superiority of 
Pure-Bloods, but that is quite different than hating all
muggles and muggleborns and wanting them dead. 

He wanted magical education confined to wizarding families
because that was the wisest and safest course of action at
that time in history. The other founders believe, I speculate,
that the fortress of Hogwarts, the remoteness of the location,
and the available wizards to defend the castle would be
sufficient to protect the students, if by some slim chance
muggles found out. That is very close to what happened in modern
day Hogwarts against Voldemort. People still believed that 
Hogwarts to be a safe fortress.

I'm not saying you are wrong, or that I am right. Only that I
think my analysis is fair and reasonable given the scant 
information we have. Fair and reasonable, but it still may or
may not be correct. One problem I have is if Slytherin were
the absolute fanatical racist modern tales make him out to 
be, why would he be invited by the other obviously benevolent
founders to join in. I think it was because, he was a great
and powerful wizard, socially and economically influential,
and generally benevolent, but that he also believed that the 
world was divided into Aristocracy and commoners. He may have
even believed that the Pureblood Aristocracy has a right to 
rule in the sense of 'divine right of Kings', but that still
isn't the same as hating commoners and wanting them dead. 


Steve/bboyminn