From: Ryan, Pat <PRyan>
Date: Thu, 9 Aug 2007 12:36:05 -0700

Coincidentally, did anyone else see an article in the paper today - I know lots of papers all over use the same sources - about real-life prejudice against red heads in Britain? Sounds silly but apparently it's quite serious: people being verbally and physically abused, and one family having to actually move several times because of graffiti on their homes.

Patricia Ryan Children's Librarian Union City Library
(510) 745-1464 ext. 19
 


  Quite by chance, I happened to read HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS simultaneously with Marc Aronson's forthcoming book, RACE: A HISTORY OF BLACK AND WHITE, and I was struck once again by the recurring theme of prejudice in the Harry Potter books, prejudice against against Mudbloods and those who support them, prejudice against various Hogwarts houses, and prejudices against various magical creatures--werevolves, giants, goblins, and house elves. Aronson alludes to several fantasy books to make various points, namely The Dark is Rising Sequence and Lord of the Rings. He probably could have devoted a whole chapter to Harry Potter.

Jonathan
Received on Thu 09 Aug 2007 02:36:05 PM CDT