Interesting piece over at Poynter by Keith Woods, “Harry Potter and the Imbalance of Race.”
Since his earliest days at the Prophet, Harry’d noticed that people who weren’t of The Race That Shall Not Be Named got a lot less description out of people like Skeeter/Rowling. He’d noticed it in the newspaper, in books, on TV -– everywhere.
The problem is, if your not around people other than The Race That Shall Not Be Named, you probably wouldn’t know how to describe someone of color.
Come to think of it, wouldn’t that be a good exercise for all journalists or writers from The Race That Shall Not Be Named: Try describing someone of color without using the words black, African American, Asian, Latino, Indian, Native American, etc. That’s stretching your mind.
2 Comments
Herb,
Very interesting to read and think about.
It might go back to that notion of noticing the differences and distinctions among people of your own race while viewing people of other races as “all” looking alike.
That would cover white people who think all black people look alike or blacks who think all white people look alike. It would also include people who manage to mistake Hindus as Muslims.
Rowling may notice the differences among non-whites but feel less comfortable describing them. She might fear using figurative language for color that might offend and be interpretted as racist. She may have that special writer’s fear of not being able to do justice to the description, of not being able to manage an “authentic” description that will pass as sufficient.
Woods points out that it’s not an issue of Rowling not having the skills to describe. It’s a contrast in the quality and the quantity of her descriptions when she ventures to the other side of the color line.
I like your suggested assignment. It might also be interesting for grade-school teachers to give this assignment and discover what lessons pop up from it.
Thanks for sharing this piece. It’s provocative and interesting.
Sincerely,
Hardy
Hardy,
I think you’re right in that Rowling may not feel comfortable. Heck, I know it’s hard for me to distinguish between many Asian groups (Japanese vs. Korean vs. Chinese, for example) but it’s very easy for them.
But just going the extra step, say by reading how writers of color — I mean all hues — describe each other or bringing in someone of color (an editor or another writer) to help her craft the descriptions would have prevented this.
It’s what JR is saying when he talks about trying to increase the number of minorities in the newsroom and it’s why we have the Minority Journalism Workshop.
But there are those who are unable to see why this is important. Just look at the comments when John posts about it.