Slytherins are bad (was:Re: Severus as friend)

[horridporrid03]

No: HPFGUIDX 183347

> >>Betsy Hp:
> > There's no law against the Ku Klux Klan, either.  Doesn't mean 
> > schools actively maintain a loving and safe environment for those 
> > tiny little eleven year olds who just *adore* the Klan and 
> > everything they stand for.  Why does Hogwarts? Why *did*         
> > Hogwarts? 

> >>Jen: I read Slytherins as having more power in their world than   
> the Klan or Confederate sympathizers have in ours.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Oh, I totally agree that by this century Slytherin was a well-
established House, with alumni and tradition behind it.  I was more 
wondering what the Founders were thinking in (a) inviting Salazar 
along in the first place and then (b) keeping his House, the keeper 
of his values, in their school after he left.  At that time period 
they could have cleared out the snake-pit with little trouble, as the 
snakes were still young and the Founders themselves were so powerful.

As it is, to me it looks like Hogwarts is stuck with codifying 
racism, but frowning on the students who, under Hogwart's direction, 
support the racist belief Hogwarts itself must also support, since it 
has a House dedicated to it. (catch 22?)

> >>Jen: I don't see any reason why they couldn't.  I think they     
> didn't because they got tripped up by the "Magic is Might" problem 
> that plagues wizards & witches - belief in the superiority of magic 
> over logic or common sense.  They were a little too attached to the 
> clever Sorting Hat & the ritual of it all to see the danger        
> inherent in the system.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
Yeah, I think you're right.  It's just too bad (IMO) that nothing 
changes by series end and Hogwarts remains as is.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> But... West Point doesn't have a codified subset of students who
> associate themselves with the Confederacy, despite the powerful
> graduates associated with that side of the Civil War.

> >>Pippin:
> You might be telescoping history here. The US Military in WWII was
> highly segregated.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
I'm not talking about segregation (I'm not that wide-eyed *g*).  I'm 
talking about the fact that some of West Point's best and brightest 
served in the Confederate army during the Civil War.  But when the 
war was over, even though some of those officers were still respected 
(e.g. Robert E. Lee), no one suggested a "School of the Confederacy" 
or some such thing forming at West Point.

I mean, obviously the analogy doesn't work perfectly (they rarely 
do), but Hogwarts *codifies* the values of a "Founder" who left the 
school.  And it continues to codify those values though it was those 
values that nearly tore the school and their country apart.  It 
strikes me as a bit odd.  And also as asking for trouble.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> There's no law against the Ku Klux Klan, either. Doesn't mean
> schools actively maintain a loving and safe environment for those
> tiny little eleven year olds who just *adore* the Klan and         
> everything they stand for. Why does Hogwarts? Why *did* Hogwarts?

> >>Pippin:
> Um, I think they do, as long as the students aren't openly attacking
> others.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
You know of a venerable and well-thought of school that houses 
students in a "Ku Klux Klan" dormitory, where the values and belief-
systems of the Klan are taught and encouraged?  Because there was a 
great hue and cry in St. Louis when the Klan wanted to support a 
section of highway.  I can't imagine such a school remaining well-
thought of and considered a place worthy of shaping the young minds 
entrusted to them. But that's just me. ;)

Again, the analogy isn't perfect, but Hogwarts doesn't just accept 
that some of its student body are naturally racist.  It *actively* 
supports that belief system by making sure those beliefs are 
maintained and kept safe from challengers.

> >>Betsy Hp:
> Slytherin equals the Ku Klux Klan and/or the Nazi Party.
> <snip>

> >>Pippin:
> I'd say it equals the Old South and/or pre-WWII Europe.
> Institutionally racist, yes. Innately racist, no.

Betsy Hp:
Yes, exactly.  And Hogwarts, and the WW, makes sure the Old South and 
pre-WWII Europe sticks around.  They maintain the institutional 
racism that makes sure even those who wouldn't necessarily be 
innately racist are properly and carefully taught.  (Though I think 
the Sorting Hat is looking for innate racism, right?)

> >>Pippin:
> But the Hat can't create racism any more than it can create cunning 
> or ambition. Put potential Slytherins in another house and maybe   
> they won't learn to hate Muggleborns. But they'll hate somebody,    
> unless they learn another way to handle their anger. Which they can 
> do just as well in Slytherin.
> <snip>

Betsy Hp:
There's nothing to suggest Slytherins are sorted for anger-issues, 
just cunning, ambition, and most importantly, racism.  The Hat 
doesn't create racism, true.  The Hat just makes sure it has a safe 
and warm environment in which to grow.

Betsy Hp