The psychology of racism in Harry Potter

1. The Psychology of Racism in the
Harry Potter Universe
Mikhail Lyubansky,
Ph.D.
The Racial Politics of
Harry Potter:

2. • A critique made with love…
• Rowling is not the final authority…

3. Is the HP universe a racial utopia?
• No racial tension
• The wizards and muggles seems to be judged
“by the content of their character”
• No one seems to even think of
himself/herself as a racial being
• For all practical purposes, “race” does not
exist…

4. …except it does!
Kingsley Shacklebolt:
“a tall Black wizard”
Angela
Johnson:
“a tall
black girl
with long,
braided
hair”
Lee Jordan:
“a black boy even
taller than Ron”

5. Why are the racial identifiers necessary?
Only one reason:
To show that race has no meaning in
this magical universe
…but is this true?

6. The case for racism
1. Only non-White characters are racially identified
“As the unmarked category against which difference
is constructed, whiteness never has to speak its
name, never has to acknowledge its role as an
organizing principle in social and cultural relations”
(Lipsitz)
“Naming “Whiteness” brings to mind various racial
discrepancies that affect every aspect of our lives and
brings awareness to racial privilege, a process that
tends to make White people feel uncomfortable
(Kivel)

7. The “Race Game”
For one week (or one day) racially
identify other White people when making
reference to them.
“This is my White friend, Ron Weasley…”
Thandeka. Learning to be White: Money, Race, and God in America. New
York: Continuum Publishing Inc., 2000.

8. The case for racism
2. How characters of color are portrayed:
The case of Cho Chang [vid clip]

9. The case for racism
3. “Color-blindness” problems
Prob 1. a form of denial and invalidation
– For many, racial status is associated with cultural
experiences (e.g., music, religion, language, food).
– For others, racial status is an important part of their identity.
(Women: Picture yourself in a society that is blind to gender)
“I don’t see color, I only see children.” What message does this
statement send? That there is something wrong with black or
brown, that it should not be noticed? I would like to suggest that
if one does not see color, then one does not really see children.
Children made “invisible” in this manner become hard-pressed
to see themselves worthy of notice.” (Lisa Delpit)

10. The case for racism
Prob 2. “Color-blindness” maintains the racial hierarchy
…by pretending and acting as though it didn’t exist (think the
Ministry of Magic…)
• But it doesn’t exist in the HP Universe?
– We know this because the narrator (Rowling) tells us
– But Rowling is white and is clearly invested in presenting
a color-blind society. Is she a reliable source of this
particular information?
• Never mind…it exists in ours. By writing a book through
a color-blind lens, Rowling (probably unintentionally)
contributes to the myth that race doesn’t exist and
doesn’t matter in people’s lives.
• Rowling is not alone…

11. Neo-conservative Racial ideology
Left Right
Radical Liberal Neo-con. FascistConservative
Multicultural
Mainstream U.S. ideology
Neo-lib.
– Race is socially constructed
– Racial inequality used to exist
– Path to equality is a color-blind society in which
everyone pursues the “American” dream by “lifting
themselves up by the bootstraps” (i.e., a “just
world” belief system – a world in which everyone
gets what they deserve, based on their choices)

12. Rowling intended to comment on race by
focusing on blood status and elf rights.
But Wait:

13. Explicit racism…
“Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds,
mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you
befoul the house of my fathers. . . . Yoooou!” she howled, her
eyes popping at the sight of the man [Sirius]. “Blood traitor,
abomination, shame of my flesh!”
The portrait of Sirius’s mother, In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 78).

14. The Muggles are not immune
“This one’s got a mean, runty look
about him. You get that with dogs. I
had Colonel Fubster drown one last
year. Ratty little thing it was. Weak.
Underbred.” (Harry Potter and the
Prisoner of Azkaban 27)
(Vernon Dursley’s sister, Marge, in reference to Harry. In Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 27 ).

15. Are Harry and Ron racist?

16. No more (or less) so than the rest of us
• They don’t self-identify as “racists”
(unlike white supremacists and the
Malfoys)
• They don’t want to be “racists”
• They don’t intentionally hurt,
humiliate, or intimidate others based
on racial status
• They have egalitarian intentions

17. No more (or less) so than the rest of us
But today’s racism is more subtle and there’s evidence
that good people, even those with the best egalitarian
intentions, can and do perpetuate acts of racism,
sometimes without any awareness of having done so.
“Every man has reminiscences which he would not tell to
everyone but only his friends. He has other matters in his mind
which he would not reveal even to his friends, but only to
himself, and that in secret. But there are other things which a
man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has
a number of such things stored away in his mind. The more
decent he is, the greater the number of such things in his
mind.”
~Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Notes from the Underground)

18. Race IAT (Implicit Association Test)
Race
Age
Disability
Sexual Orientation
Weight
Religion
Gender
Blood status (N/A)

19. What would a blood-status IAT show?
• Draco and many Slytherins would show an anti-
halfblood bias (consistent with their explicit attitudes)
• But what about Harry, Ron, and Hermione?
– Research with the IAT reveals
• The majority of Whites have an implicit racial bias
• The implicit bias is present as early as age 6
– Ron definitely (socialized into a society w/ open racism
against halfbloods)
– Harry and Hermione harder to predict (raised by Muggles
and have Muggles in their ancestry)
• Show no bias regarding potential friendships
• But more likely to associate transgressors with purebloods
• Everyone would have implicit anti-elf bias

20. S.P.E.W. (Goblet of Fire)
“You know House-elves get a very
raw deal! It’s slavery, that’s what it
is! . . . Why doesn’t anyone do
something about it?”
“Well, the elves are happy, aren’t
they? You heard Winky back at the
[Quidditch] match….’House elves is
not supposed to have fun.’. . . That’s
what she likes, being bossed
around . . . ”
Hermione:
Ron:

21. Jokes and their relation to the
unconscious (Freud)
When Hermione accuses him of making up his
Divination homework, Ron (who is guilty as
charged) pretends to be outraged.
“How dare you!” he says. “We’ve
been working like House-elves
here.” (Goblet of Fire 223).

22. Last Words…
This happens in our world too.
Although many individuals do see
human rights as important across a
variety of different identity groups, it is
also true that advocates for racial
equality do not always act as allies for
the LGBT and disability communities,
and vice versa. The bottom line is that
Harry and Ron mean well and clearly
have the courage to act consistently in
accordance with their convictions, but
their views about certain types of
oppression are nonetheless narrow-
minded. Like most of us, young and
old, they still have some learning and
growing to do.
Read more:
Harry Potter
and the word
that shall not be
named