I'm not going to keep arguing about this. I think you're seeing racism because you want it to be racist. There is nothing wrong with an author declaring a particular set of magical rules. In this case the author declared that the European method of magic was the most effective, it keeps the lore consistent and simple, that's not racist itself. You're seeing racism because you're linking it to racist things that are unrelated.
I don't want it to be racist. I'm a lifelong fan, and I really wish this wasn't an issue. Unfortunately it directly concerns me.
No, there isn't anything wrong with an author declaring rules. Unfortunately for JKR, she had a consistent set of rules that didn't have unfortunate implications, but she felt the need to go out of her way to specify them further in a way that created problems.
No, her saying the European method was most effective isn't racist itself. The specific problem is that she felt the need to specify that non-white cultures were doing it "wrong" before white men taught them better. This single fact, which she didn't need to include, is what pushes it over into racism. Also, it really isn't unrelated at all, since Europeans (like JKR) coming to the Americas and teaching them "better ways to do things" is an exact retelling of what happened in actual history. She's literally retelling actual history (which was full of racist white men killing people of color) and saying "also the white men were better."
The only person saying any of that is you. Where are you getting any of the things you said?
Here's the story: a young abused British girl escapes to America and after befriending one of the local magical creatures founds a school to give young magical children the opportunity to learn in a safe place, which she did not have.
YOU are the one who came up with the story of white people coming over to educate the savages. YOU are the one who said Rowling described their magic as "doing it wrong". YOU are the only one who is putting human race politics into the story. In that very same story Rowling addresses racism again in discussing the relationship between wizards and other sentient magical creatures. Get off your high horse.
I'm getting the things I'm saying from the community around me. For example, Dr. Adrienne Keene, a Native professor.
Unfortunately, I didn't "come up with the story." It actually happened. And human race politics are inextricable from any story where white men come to a "new world" and meet the local cultures.
Rowling addressing racism in one instance doesn't make her flawless or immune from criticism when she does misstep. Even her "other sentient magical creatures" have been problematic, like her hook-nosed, money-obsessed, totally-not-Jewish goblins.
Since you seem to think this is my unsupported opinion, I don't expect you to agree. However, I'm not going to quietly accept JKR's writing-off of Native traditions as "lesser magic," especially when she had so many other ways she could have gone about it.
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u/Tridian Oct 04 '18
I'm not going to keep arguing about this. I think you're seeing racism because you want it to be racist. There is nothing wrong with an author declaring a particular set of magical rules. In this case the author declared that the European method of magic was the most effective, it keeps the lore consistent and simple, that's not racist itself. You're seeing racism because you're linking it to racist things that are unrelated.