Here's another not entirely coherent comment because although super interesting, this is LENGTHY and I kinda lost focus on what I wanted to say.
I think it mostly raises some questions for me.
First, like you pointed out already, how is it to be black in the UK? To me, tumblr seems to be pretty US-centered on several topics, including race. I think being part of a minority can evoke a certain set of basic feelings that are the same all over the world (like the need to find your own group and huddle together), but then there's a cultural and historical layer and that's where the differences come in. Like, is it a elitist minority? Do you have the slave past, or maybe you're regarded as less because of your religion? I can't speak for Britain, but in my country, Hermione would also very much fit as a Turkish young woman in a Western European country for instance. I agree with all people saying JKR probably made this loophole sort of on accident, but I like it in that way that there are more minorities than black alone, each with their difficulties, and you could all make them fit for Hermione in a way. They don't fit perfectly, but like you pointed out, being black doesn't either for her.
The second point I forgot :) I keep stumbling over how tumblr in a way doesn't represent the minorities in my country, and that's fine, but when a discussion is about an European country, with different minority groups and probably different representation problems, I would love to know more about the situation there, I feel like I can't really form an opinion about how race would form and affect characters in a set-in-Britain story.
But thank you for this discussion! I think it's really interesting, and I would like to hear your opinion on this, too. Part of me keeps saying to me that the problems aren't that different, or maybe black people encounter the same problems all over the world, but that I'm just not enough informed. Idk. It's a subject to handle with care, and I'm still searching how to handle it (and probably keep searching for quite a while if not my whole life).
no subject
I think it mostly raises some questions for me.
First, like you pointed out already, how is it to be black in the UK? To me, tumblr seems to be pretty US-centered on several topics, including race. I think being part of a minority can evoke a certain set of basic feelings that are the same all over the world (like the need to find your own group and huddle together), but then there's a cultural and historical layer and that's where the differences come in. Like, is it a elitist minority? Do you have the slave past, or maybe you're regarded as less because of your religion? I can't speak for Britain, but in my country, Hermione would also very much fit as a Turkish young woman in a Western European country for instance. I agree with all people saying JKR probably made this loophole sort of on accident, but I like it in that way that there are more minorities than black alone, each with their difficulties, and you could all make them fit for Hermione in a way. They don't fit perfectly, but like you pointed out, being black doesn't either for her.
The second point I forgot :) I keep stumbling over how tumblr in a way doesn't represent the minorities in my country, and that's fine, but when a discussion is about an European country, with different minority groups and probably different representation problems, I would love to know more about the situation there, I feel like I can't really form an opinion about how race would form and affect characters in a set-in-Britain story.
But thank you for this discussion! I think it's really interesting, and I would like to hear your opinion on this, too. Part of me keeps saying to me that the problems aren't that different, or maybe black people encounter the same problems all over the world, but that I'm just not enough informed. Idk. It's a subject to handle with care, and I'm still searching how to handle it (and probably keep searching for quite a while if not my whole life).