How to Defeat Xenophobia in J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World: A Paper on the Rhetoric of Social Protest

 I will be focusing on the resistance movement that was established against Voldemort in the British Wizarding world. While the movement was primarily focussing on defeating Voldemort and his followers, they did not necessarily take a stand against the ideology which was Voldemort’s tool in gathering followers and social momentum - his xenophobic politics and planned genocide of Muggle-born and half-blood wizarding people, as well as Muggles themselves (Muggles here means people who are not born with magic). Instead, we see a resistance movement (Order of the Phoenix) which primarily focuses on espionage, intel, and infantry movement to combat Voldemort and his followers. This xenophobic sect of society gained power earlier on in the Wizarding World’s history as well, as we saw with Grindelwald and his followers. This is the question we must ask ourselves: how can the same ideology of xenophobia be perpetuated in two different points in time and achieve similar amounts of success, expressing itself as a massive social movement against Muggles? The answer is that while the resistance tackled the figureheads and leaders of the movement, it did not tackle the ideology. The vast majority of the Wizarding world are not aware of the relationships that already exist between Muggles and Magical peoples. This is why along with the secret resistance of the Order of the Phoenix, I would establish a parallel but public social movement which aims to tackle and dispel the xenophobia against Muggles. This movement would not limit itself to just muggles as well. It would tackle the pervasive xenophobia against many sects of magical society. 

The reason I can take such liberties with the text of Harry Potter is because J.K. Rowling devoted all of her time making her readers hate Slytherin - another part of the xenophobic rhetoric that we as members of the Wizarding community will tackle amongst our own ranks. 

The participants here would include:

• Muggle-borns and half bloods

• Parents, partners, friends, of Muggle-born and half-blood people

• People standing up for rights in general

• People of magical descent who have no magic (Squibs).

• People who can’t control their magic (Obscurials)

• Disabled creatures from all the above sects - as there is a clear lack of inclusivity in pedagogic spaces. 

• House-elves - are a demonstration of slave practices. 

• Werewolves - are seen as monsters rather than people affected by a disease (modeled after AIDS victims)

• Goblins - are recreated based on Jewish stereotypes as can be seen through the common hooked nose and impassioned attachment to money. 

What we would be tackling is the xenophobic rhetoric of the treatment of all magical creatures as inferior to the Homo magi - humans of pureblood magical ability. The beneficiaries would be everyone. The antagonists would be everyone part of the xenophobic movement  - Death eaters, Voldemort, Grindelwald. 

The biggest and most important step of all would be to dismantle existing political rhetoric against all sects of society against whom rhetoric is being constructed again. To have seen such a political movement rise twice within a few decades of each other is a stark realisation to have. For it to have occurred again means that the rhetoric of xenophobia is deeply rooted in wizarding society, and it must be tackled at the heart. At this point, it seems like all people need is a charismatic and powerful magic-wielder as leader to set the movement aflame, and people would follow. This charisma is already well-established within the books as has characterised Tom Riddle and Gellert Grindelwald. This charisma, coupled with a deeply rooted political rhetoric is all that it takes to set such a xenophobic movement aflame. It is these that must be overcome to make a difference. 

The movement would already have a substantial gathering considering the participants listed earlier on. The important thing here is to establish that this movement would begin when infant Harry Potter defeats Voldemort for the first time. This timing of the movement is crucial as considering ceteris paribus (all other things stay the same), we would have the time of 16 - 17 years to tackle xenophobic rhetoric before Voldemort rises again. This is necessary and important because a) the movement is then rooted in a substantial part of wizarding history and functioning at a time when great change is already happening and allows us to propel ourselves forward using that momentum, b) it allows for extended growth in the numbers that support our work against xenophobic ideology, c) acts a training resource for magical individuals who will be fighting the war against Voldemort who know what they’re fighting for and against, and d) allows for an extensive resistance movement to be estabslished while the war rages on in the seventh book, where the movement is well-equipped with legal strategies, disruptive protest strategies, as well as networks which help support people in need. 

As all of this occurs, people will join the movement because a) its historicity establishes it as a norm, b) emotional attachment to the movement because their self or the self of somebody they love is being characterised by xenophobia, c) any other reason people may want join the movement. At the end of the day, we will be constructing a movement that stands up for the rights of all magical creatures, human or otherwise. I expect the support for such a movement to be relatively equal to human rights movements in the real world, despite existing xenophobic rhetoric. 

There are many strategies I would use to accomplish my goals, the first of which are education and normalisation. The main goal of this strategy is to conduct sessions where people of different sects and species of magical society can interact with each other and their cultures. Through constant, normalised interactions and the establishment of multicultural public spaces, the effect of false, xenophobic rhetoric being constrcuted can be mitigated as everyone begins to understand each other. This can be done through seminars on cultures of different species as well as Muggle culture. A major direction this strategy must focus on is not to treat the other cultures as objects of ridicule, as was done with Muggle Studies at Hogwarts. Any study of Muggle culture was met with disdain; an outlook that needs to be changed with this strategy which teaches to treat other cultures with the respect they deserve. 

An important part of this is normalising interactions with people of different magical sects. This would involve setting up informal spaces such as cafes, bars, pubs, book clubs, libraries, marketplaces, and shops where all species of magic would be welcome. By creating informal spaces separate from educational ones, we would encourage the establishment of informal, cross-cultural, cross-species relationships which would in the long run propel the movement forward and establish a social network. This is especially important during the resistance movement in the seventh book, as by the end of 16 years, long-lasting relationships would have formed, providing reliable support, aid, and participants in the movement to combat the ideologies and enforces being used by Voldemort to get his way. 

The second is protests and demonstrations. This is crucial as we as a movement must show that we occupy space society and are stakeholders. However, the law may not see it the same way, which is why protests must be held in order to stand against, call out, and change the law to create a more inclusive and equitable society. What we must keep in mind is that ideas of what is lawful and just are fluid and change with time. This stands true for all the xenophobic laws that we in the real world have tackled and put to bed as the world has progressed. This is why protests are important - to remove institutional xenophobia, and establish inclusive institutions. 

The third is establishing a growing pool of resources and aid that participants of the movement can use. This includes lists and instructions on how to acquire legal aid, mental health professionals who specialise in dealing with xenophobia related trauma, list of individuals ready to shelter others from dangerous situations, and so much more. The unsaid motivation of this movement is to create an empathetic community of peoples who are ready to provide aid and support to those who need it. 

The fourth is outreach. This would include indirect ways of spreading the word, putting up flyers, talking with people - remember Harry Potter is set in the 1990’s - and recruiting anybody except literal kids to fight in the wizarding world. 

The fifth is supporting second responders. First responders to any major point in history are the ambulances, firefighters, law enforcement, and so on. The second responders are those who chronicle the event through their craft such as artists, writers, poets, musicians, historians, teachers. Supporting the second responders who spread the word about societal injustices and the humane portrayal of all magical species is something necessary that needs to pervade the popular imagination and root itself there.

What every signage, piece of paperwork, and mission statement revolves around is safety and inclusion. All conversations are about raising awareness about different sects of magical society and bringing about legislative change for equal access and opportunity for every, preventing discrimination, supporting the disenfranchised and the those whose voices have been ignored for decades. 

 I am drawing inspiration for models of counter-protest from Trump’s America. I assume that the opposing, xenophobic side would form militias and groups of enforcers by the name of Death Eaters to safegaurd their interests. It must be noted that the opposing side did perform a version of counter-protest when Voldemort and his followers took over Hogwarts in the seventh book. 

Carrow taught that Muggles were "like animals, stupid and dirty" and that they "drove wizards into hiding by being vicious toward them," and "how the natural order is being restored". This was an attempt to brainwash Wizarding children into hating the Muggle world, and into joining Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Neville Longbottom would defy such teachings by asking how much Muggle blood the new professor and her brother had.

By teaching such things in a pedagogic setting such as the Muggle Studies class at Hogwarts, we see the kind of misinformation being spread about Muggle-kind and other magical species which are brought into play. Then of course, there is also their unique brand of violence which we saw in the fourth book, where they were blasting Unforgivable Curses into crowds of Quidditch fans at the Quidditch World Cup. This callousness and blatant disregard for the law can be seen being imitated by the January 6th rioters of 2021 when they stormed the Capitol building, except with an exceedingly higher magnitude of danger. 

How I would measure success for the movement can be based on two things - the accomplishment of our goals of the normalisation of inter-species multiculturalism in the Wizarding world formally and informally. Formally, we all know that Hermione Granger becomes Minister for Magic in the future, following events from the seventh book, and how she passes acts that safeguard the livelihoods of werewolves. What we don’t know is how we got there. Hopefully, our movement would be a part of that progress. Informally is all about gauging community relations and how inter-species interactions occur. If stereotypes, xenophobic slurs, and discrimination is mitigated to at least halve of what it used to be, we can consider the movement a success. It is all about creating a safe, inclusive space for all magical creatures to live in, and to not buy into an idea of superiority that is xenophobic.