Snapedom

Sailorlum argued passionately that to call the WW’s “blood prejudice” anything BUT racism is totally to miss the point because after all, “blood prejudice” is, by definition, based on “blood”. And so is racism. Ergo, they are the same.

Let me set the record straight, here:

Actually, I argued passionately that to deny that blood prejudice is a form of racism (along with any other -ism it also happens to fall under) is to miss a big important part of the point.

Blood prejudice is both classist and racist, due to the huge intersect of pure-blood and "blue blood". (I touched on that briefly when Lucius Malfoy and his elitism got brought up). I don't have any problem with someone saying "Hey, look at how classist blood prejudice is" as long as they aren't denying that blood prejudice is also racist. To deny the racism is to miss an important part of the picture.

Let's look at Severus:

Severus is a poor half-blood. He doesn't have 'pure money' class privilege but he has *some* blood privilege and *some* "blue blood wizard" class privilege. Severus has got less 'pure money' class privilege than Lily, but he's got more blood privilege and more wizard class privilege than a Muggle-born like Lily, all while having less blood and wizard class privilege than a half-blood that isn't half and half, and further less than a pure-blood like Lucius (who has more blood, 'pure money' class, and wizard class privilege than Severus).

For some pure-bloods, an exception must be made for Severus, and Severus's half amount of blood and wizard class privilege (and his talent) makes that exception possible to those people. That doesn't mean that those who make the exception for Severus aren't racist (and classist). They are just less racist and classist than say...Walburga Black. And that's not saying much.

While we are on the subject of "blue blood"...This kind of classism is fused with racism. It certainly started out as a dual racist/classist prejudice. There's definitely an intersect, even today - the "old money" seems to be pretty "white". Exceptions are made, but they are just that: exceptions.

Furthermore, there are different types of racism, just as there are different shades of...let's say...the color blue. Look at all the Shades of Blue.

Is cyan exactly the same color as navy blue? No, but they are both blue.

Now what about indigo and teal?

Indigo has violet in it. It's still blue but it is also violet. Here it is also under the category of Shades of Violet.

Teal has green in it. It's still blue but it is also green. Here it is also under the category of Shades of Green

Similarly, blood prejudice is still racist but it is also classist. It's under both umbrellas.

With racism and other -isms, it's just like with the colors above - there are shades and it's not always one or the other. Sometimes (often, even) there's an intersection/overlap.

For instance:

Is anti-Semitism exactly the same as anti-"black"? No, but they are both a form of racism.

Does anti-Semitism have a big element of religious persecution to it? Yes, but that doesn't make it any less racist.

On the flip side, does anti-Semitism have a big element of racism to it? Yes, but that doesn't make it any less a religious prejudice.

Also, there are degrees of racism. One need not be a cross burning member of the KKK to be a racist or to have racist views or to be/act racist.

Sliding scale of racism:

Unconscious stereotyping <------------------------------------------>Genocide

The ---- line represents all the shades of gray within racism.

Here's a good article on some of the subtleties of classism and racism: http://whatprivilege.com/white-trash-blues-class-privilege-v-white-privilege/

That's all I've got to say. This is the only post I'm making here. Reply, retort, rebut, or whatever, but I'm done here. I'm not getting sucked back in to another wankstorm (but I did want to set the record straight...and got sucked in a little).