pa-lante-cyborg:

letclestrcnge:

This is like a grievous fandom sin but tbh, I like the concept that race, gender and sexuality work different in the Wizarding World than they do in Muggle culture. That’s not to say that discrimination doesn’t exist, obviously, but rather that it’s not played out quite like it is for their non-magical counterparts. It’s established in canon that wizards pay no mind (if you want to be picky, perhaps not overtly) to having female leaders— with Artemisia Lufkin being Prime Minister almost 130 years before Margaret Thatcher even came to be, and various other female Ministers for Magic following (their degree of competence varying, sure, but no more than their male counterparts). Rowena Ravenclaw is described as the brightest witch of her era, and both she and Helga Hufflepuff are recognized and treated with respect for founding Hogwarts. The Wizarding World is extremely isolationist (they’re so distanced from Muggle society, and at times even downright refuse to interact with it). We’ve seen their discrimination comes in the form of magical ability. So who’s to say that in creating these isolated little worlds for themselves to safely live in, wizarding culture molded it’s other prejudices to fit within their way of living and thinking?

Thats exactly it which is why I have issues with people comparing/equating wizarding prejudice with our own very real prejudice when it comes to race among other things.

I’ve been carrying this around for a while so bear with me.

Unpopular opinions ahead that may contradict a narrative that spans more 10-15 years

All wizards are wizards. Puteblood, halfblood, muggleborn… they’re all wizards. But there are stigmas against muggleborns because of their muggle parents. It’s not fair and its inexcusable however I do think there’s a logic there if people stop comparing purebloods to white supremacists and start comparing them to other isolationist and closed societies who were made that way by strife.

Muggles outnumber wizards, have nuclear technology, and have historically been known to hunt and kill witches or people considered magical. If Wizards began their isolation in either the dark or middle ages when suspected witches were being persecuted and drowned, hung, or burned at the stake and retreated into secrecy, swearing to never let muggles see them practicing magic to the point that it is law, then it makes sense that those views would not change for centuries and explains why so much of the wizarding world looks old timey and noticeably behind our own standards of modernization.

But it also explains their reluctant acceptance of muggleborns and halfbloods. Will these wizards bring with them the influence of the muggle world, which wizardkind still considers a danger? Will these wizards betray wizard kind? It doesn’t give muggle borns benefit of the doubt and alienates those who perhaps feel unaccepted both in the muggle world and wizard world. Its unfounded prejudice but it is not unprecedented. It shows in varying degrees how Riddle, Snape and Harry are molded as a result of Muggle abuse. No one case is the same but the scars are there.

As with most societies, there are going to be issues of integration, assimilation and exchange of new culture introduced. And wizards have an admittedly ineffective government. I mean honestly, the ministry and wizangamot are a fucking joke and azkaban has human rights violations written all over it. Nevermind the perilous education system with unguaranteed quality when it comes to teachers.

But I suppose if I were a pureblood, if not hatred I would be wary of muggles and muggleborns would have to prove they mean no harm. Which is exactly how I feel as an afro/indigenous person who’s peoples have faced and STILL face devastating colonization, genocide/ethnocide, and brutalization when I interact with white people I don’t know even if I dont always vocalize that anxiety.

However, the response to genocide shouldn’t be more genocide, which is where pureblood extremism takes over and devastates wizards across the board.

Muggleborns have every right to be part of wizarding society. How else can the survival of wizards be ensured? Voldemort, a halfblood, twisted Pureblood fear into extremism and it cost everyone. But he had many sympathizers and I hate how much sense it makes but lets look at the landscape here.

Werewolves, Vampires, Centaurs, giants, elves (even with it being in their nature)… many magical creatures were treated as second and third class citizens. They were rejected by society and by the Ministry for things out of their control or exploited for the same reasons. In comes voldemort and offers whoever will join him a place. So he had Vampires and Werewolves on his side.

Then he dismantled the government that was failing all of them but instead of improving anything he put in place a fascist and authoritarian regime. By this point, even his pureblood followers were too afraid to oppose him even if they disagreed with him.

Yikes.

Wizarding prejudice has a different feel to me than mere supremacy. It feels a lot more like ethnocentrism in response to a percieved threat that eventually became a Pureblood superiority complex. Its roots lie in a different place but they are no less destructive and the devastation no less inexcuable.

Additionally, as a good friend of mine said, Purebloods main source of prejudice is classism which they lord over muggleborns and even other purebloods in the form of knowledge, resources and overall wealth and ability as they are more culturally connected.

It’s true.

It may also give them a sense of security (however false) to have those things that others don’t. However that system is not sustainable long term and again, doesn’t do wizardkind as a whole any favors.