Re: Part III
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Claiming that prejudice against Muggleborns is wrong *because* they are wizards plays into this prejudice.
I never claimed this and I don’t know where you are getting it from (if you’re talking about me). If you are talking about characters in the books claiming this, then yes, they are being racist if they are doing that. They are also being ableist and xenophobic.
There is a confusion here between 'race' as distinguishing different varieties of human being and 'race' as distinguishing the human species from others.
I was dealing with the “wizard race” as a microcosm. I never said it was separate from the human race. It isn’t. Wizards, Squibs and Muggles are all part of the human race. In the world of HP, wizards are treated as a separate race, but that doesn’t make “the wizard race” any less a social construct or any less part of the human race. I already explained this up thread, somewhere.
Again, any concepts of race within the human race are social constructs. They aren’t truly different races from each other like humans, trolls, giants, centaurs and any of the other beings in HP are different races.
Coda, to sailorlum: wealth and magic are not the same type of privilege. One is theoretically available to all, in the right circumstance; nothing in one's biological makeup precludes it. The other is a privilege only from the perspective of *openly practicing* magic. It is not a privilege from the POV of biology, since the *ability* to do magic is what distinguishes a wizard from a Muggle. Otherwise 9-year-old Harry was not a wizard any more than Marge was, yet we know he was one. A wizard may have their wand snapped but they do not then become *a Muggle.* The comparison with Jews is inaccurate in that respect.
I never said wealth and magic are the same type of privilege. I said they are both privileges that are deemed only worthy of the majority race (Aryan and pure-blood/half-blood wizard, respectively) by racists. Again, the analogy doesn’t have to be 100% perfect/the same as the thing it’s an analogy for, for it to work and be accurate. That the comparison with Jews is inaccurate in a certain aspect doesn’t negate the validity of the analogy.
Muggleborns' status in the WW hinges on whether they are part of the "wizard race." Period. Jews' status in Nazi Germany hinged on them not being of the Aryan race, and THEREFORE to the Nazis not part of the *human* race. Those who saw Jews and Aryans as equal saw Jews and Aryans as both part of the human race. They did not argue Jews were "really" Aryan.
Again, the analogy doesn’t have to be 100% perfect/the same as the thing it’s an analogy for, for it to work and be accurate. That the comparison with Jews and Aryans is inaccurate in a certain aspect doesn’t negate the validity of the analogy.
I’m getting tired of discussing this as well. Not sure how much energy I have left.
I never claimed this and I don’t know where you are getting it from (if you’re talking about me). If you are talking about characters in the books claiming this, then yes, they are being racist if they are doing that. They are also being ableist and xenophobic.
There is a confusion here between 'race' as distinguishing different varieties of human being and 'race' as distinguishing the human species from others.
I was dealing with the “wizard race” as a microcosm. I never said it was separate from the human race. It isn’t. Wizards, Squibs and Muggles are all part of the human race. In the world of HP, wizards are treated as a separate race, but that doesn’t make “the wizard race” any less a social construct or any less part of the human race. I already explained this up thread, somewhere.
Again, any concepts of race within the human race are social constructs. They aren’t truly different races from each other like humans, trolls, giants, centaurs and any of the other beings in HP are different races.
Coda, to sailorlum: wealth and magic are not the same type of privilege. One is theoretically available to all, in the right circumstance; nothing in one's biological makeup precludes it. The other is a privilege only from the perspective of *openly practicing* magic. It is not a privilege from the POV of biology, since the *ability* to do magic is what distinguishes a wizard from a Muggle. Otherwise 9-year-old Harry was not a wizard any more than Marge was, yet we know he was one. A wizard may have their wand snapped but they do not then become *a Muggle.* The comparison with Jews is inaccurate in that respect.
I never said wealth and magic are the same type of privilege. I said they are both privileges that are deemed only worthy of the majority race (Aryan and pure-blood/half-blood wizard, respectively) by racists. Again, the analogy doesn’t have to be 100% perfect/the same as the thing it’s an analogy for, for it to work and be accurate. That the comparison with Jews is inaccurate in a certain aspect doesn’t negate the validity of the analogy.
Muggleborns' status in the WW hinges on whether they are part of the "wizard race." Period. Jews' status in Nazi Germany hinged on them not being of the Aryan race, and THEREFORE to the Nazis not part of the *human* race. Those who saw Jews and Aryans as equal saw Jews and Aryans as both part of the human race. They did not argue Jews were "really" Aryan.
Again, the analogy doesn’t have to be 100% perfect/the same as the thing it’s an analogy for, for it to work and be accurate. That the comparison with Jews and Aryans is inaccurate in a certain aspect doesn’t negate the validity of the analogy.
I’m getting tired of discussing this as well. Not sure how much energy I have left.