Now, on the subject of Wizards Who Hate Muggleborns ("Wie zijn ze? Wat drijft hen?") and appropriate parallels therefore. :)
I don't think the comparison to racism is quite right, because while many racists have this fear of coloured people murdering them in their sleep or somesuch, that fear is quite unfounded, whereas I think that if you look at the witch hunts and the inquisition and all, I think Wizards have some reason to be weary of Muggles. And Muggleborns do present a risk, because can you really trust them to never say a word about the Wizarding World to their Muggle friends and relatives?
Which isn't to say that I don't think at least some of them (the Malfoys, for example) have taken the whole thing into the realm of race politics, but I think it's also just the tip of the iceberg of the prejudice that permeates the entirety of Wizarding society. To pick a rather blatant example, how about the House Elves? And how about the House Prejudice (see above re: people seeing all Slytherins as future Death Eaters)?
Or how about the brainwashing of the Muggleborns I talked about at length above? Sure, most wizards and witches frown on outright hatred such as Draco displays ("Mudblood"), but they still expect Muggleborns to completely assimilate into Wizarding society. Seamus is half-Muggle, but doesn't, apparently, know what football is, and Dean is the only one who's ever mentioned Muggle things in everyday conversation, and he's kind of seen as odd (harmless and fun despite the oddness, but odd nonetheless, I think) because of his West Ham poster.
Er, back to my point, I prefer to compare the Muggle/Wizard issue to the Israel/Palestine one, or perhaps even more accurately the situation in Northern Ireland, where the issue goes so far back the blame is really equally on both sides, or on neither side, but both sides are so afraid of each other, hate each other so much, that reconsiliation seems almost impossible.
And speaking of Northern Ireland, have I mentioned my pet IRA HP theory?
(And I think that's all for now. You really shouldn't get me started. <g>)
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Re: Feedback, at last...
("Wie zijn ze? Wat drijft hen?")and appropriate parallels therefore. :)I don't think the comparison to racism is quite right, because while many racists have this fear of coloured people murdering them in their sleep or somesuch, that fear is quite unfounded, whereas I think that if you look at the witch hunts and the inquisition and all, I think Wizards have some reason to be weary of Muggles. And Muggleborns do present a risk, because can you really trust them to never say a word about the Wizarding World to their Muggle friends and relatives?
Which isn't to say that I don't think at least some of them (the Malfoys, for example) have taken the whole thing into the realm of race politics, but I think it's also just the tip of the iceberg of the prejudice that permeates the entirety of Wizarding society. To pick a rather blatant example, how about the House Elves? And how about the House Prejudice (see above re: people seeing all Slytherins as future Death Eaters)?
Or how about the brainwashing of the Muggleborns I talked about at length above? Sure, most wizards and witches frown on outright hatred such as Draco displays ("Mudblood"), but they still expect Muggleborns to completely assimilate into Wizarding society. Seamus is half-Muggle, but doesn't, apparently, know what football is, and Dean is the only one who's ever mentioned Muggle things in everyday conversation, and he's kind of seen as odd (harmless and fun despite the oddness, but odd nonetheless, I think) because of his West Ham poster.
Er, back to my point, I prefer to compare the Muggle/Wizard issue to the Israel/Palestine one, or perhaps even more accurately the situation in Northern Ireland, where the issue goes so far back the blame is really equally on both sides, or on neither side, but both sides are so afraid of each other, hate each other so much, that reconsiliation seems almost impossible.
And speaking of Northern Ireland, have I mentioned my pet IRA HP theory?
(And I think that's all for now. You really shouldn't get me started. <g>)