Bigotry in the Potterverse

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 188042

Rick H. Kennerly wrote:
> In truth, though, JKR deals with complicated racial issues and 
> discrimination through interactions in the WW: werewolfs, giants, 
> muggle-born, goblins, centaurs even ghosts, with Nearly Headless Nick 
> being denied a spot in the headless hunt. 
Bart:
    In JURASSIC PARK 2, there is a wonderful line. When Richard 
Attenborough informs Jeff Goldblum that he learned from his mistakes, 
Golblum replies, "Yeah, now you're making all new mistakes." Well, in 
the Potterverse, the wizards have learned from the old bigotries. Now 
they have all new bigotries.

    I had a similar situation. I went to one of New York's "special" 
high schools (where entrance was based on winning a city-wide 
competition). There was a cross-section from all over the city; all 
different "races", cultural backgrounds, economic backgrounds, etc. The 
one thing every student had in common was that they were good at 
scholastic endeavors. The various bigotries found in many high schools 
were considerably less; however, there was an intellectual snobbery. Not 
exactly a pecking order within the school, but very much a "wizards vs. 
muggles" type of mentality.

    And I have seen something similar among young Harry Potter fans; a 
"we're the Wizards, they're the muggles" mentality.

    There is a subtle form of bigotry which is present in the "real 
world". In 19th century Europe and America, it was referred to as "the 
white man's burden". It is still a form of belief that one group of 
humans is inherently superior to another set of humans, and, out of 
kindness, the "inferior" humans have to be given certain advantages to 
create an illusion of equality. It continues today with the twisting of 
the concept of affirmative action from reversing previous handicaps 
forced on some groups into a mentality of "those people aren't as smart 
as WE are, so we have to give them extra points to pretend that they 
are", or accepting savagery among some groups because they can't be 
expected to be able to live up to "our standards". And I am afraid that, 
in the Harry Potter books, Rowling is carefully training young people 
into this form of prejudice, as in "We are better than they are, but we 
are also kind, so we'll pretend that they are as good as us, so that 
their feelings won't be hurt."

    Bart


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