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The Slytherin Approach to History

A different way of viewing some ongoing controversies

By Matty LongPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
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Two recent news stories got me thinking about cancel culture from an odd perspective. One was the resurgence of calls to topple troublesome statues, this time about the Rhodes statue at Oxford again, and the other was the reported falling out between Stephen King and JK Rowling, owing to the latter’s controversial remarks about trans people. There may not appear to be much of a link here, other than a reminder that cancel culture isn't going away anytime soon, but it reminded me about how I used to feel about JK Rowling before she was cancelled, back when she was a prominent Twitterer and, quite frankly, a hero on the left for her takedowns of Trump, among others. To me, she essentially embodied all that online culture wars thrive on. Until, as is often the case these days, it came for her. And she saw the light. But what's this got to do with statues, you might ask? Well, the whole statue controversey brought to light an interpretation of the extreme negatives of this approach to history that I got from the 'Harry Potter' books, and one that I always found odd that JK Rowling didn't seem to espouse in her real-world politics until she she experienced the full force of it.

Now, first of all, there are obviously a lot of serious problems going on in the world right now that people feel very strongly about. And that’s something I understand, especially as we’ve just seen the anniversary of the death of George Floyd. And I even have some sympathy for the protesters who tore down the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol by force, especially as the council had repeatedly ignored the strong calls for it to be removed or at the very least a plaque be placed to explain how terrible a man he really was. And he was. Colston made his fortune in the diabolical Atlantic slave trade, and the philanthropy he is also remembered for, when you read into it, was based entirely on political and religious motivations. Colston refused money to those who did not support his views. So, I think, whether you approve of the methods in which it was removed or not, it isn't a terrible thing that his statue has gone. I could see it ending up in a museum.

I do not, however, have the same opinion for a great many of the statues that people have been calling to be removed. Let’s take Winston Churchill, for example, who’s statue was defaced during last year's riots. Yes, Winston Churchill was not a perfect man. Yes, he made some horrendous errors of judgment for which many people have held him accountable, including many WWII veterans, and it is also true that he had some views that would be considered atrocious today, and should have been then. But this is also a man who’s role in defeating Nazism was crucial, a man who stood with the British people when nobody else would, and a man who played an important part in history that deserves to be remembered for the sacrifices made. This is why he has a statue.

Now, you may wonder, how on earth does this relate to 'Harry Potter'? Well, one of the most interesting aspects of Rowling's stories, I’ve always thought, is Slytherin House and its associations and members. The House is introduced in the first book as the House you don’t want to be in for its associations with dark witches and wizards, so much that Harry begs the Sorting Hat not to place him in that house. However, the Sorting Hat suggests Harry has the potential to develop in that house. Harry is sorted into Gryffindor but this remark by the Sorting Hat becomes interesting as the series continues. In the second book, the history of Hogwarts is revealed, where Salazar Slytherin is the only founder who objects to muggle-borns being abmitted to the school. I have a feeling some very dedicated fans will tell you that this mistrust was born out of "witch trials" that Slytherin experienced, but nevertheless this prejudiced obsession with blood purity is reflectant of racism and white supremacy, and is developed throughout the book with prejudiced slurs such as ‘mudblood.’ And I can’t be entirely sure, but I seem to remember JK Rowling stating that she introduced this theme throughout the series to reflect her thoughts on racial prejudice.

However, Slytherin’s legacy was also in his associations with resourcefulness, cunning, ambition, determination and leadership. And it is for those traits that the House remains, whilst the facts of Slytherin’s dark side are taught. And whilst Slytherins such as the Malfoys may seem to demonstrate this dark side, others such as Horace Slughorn and, of course, eventually, Severus Snape, represent other, more positive, qualities, so much that, in the epilogue, Harry reassures his son that there is nothing wrong with being in Slytherin.

I think the point I always took from this is that many legacies are contested, and shouldn’t always be erased based on one aspect when other aspects deserve to be remembered. And when the idea of removing statues started being discussed years ago (back when it was limited to Confederate generals), this is what I thought about. Churchill, for example, should be remembered the way he is but perhaps educational institutions could make an effort to teach about other aspects of him. And I would personally think it unfair anyhow to put Winston Churchill on par with Salazar Slytherin! But there are similar examples. It seems to me that what a lot of people want to do is literally photoshop history, going from one extreme to the other. And I know that when UK PM Boris Johnson made a similar point on social media, the left-leaning media were quick to point out that history has been photoshopped before by historians who ignore atrocities when writing about, for example, the British Empire. And there are obvious underlying associations with Johnson’s background and approach here. But this just represents an issue I have with the modern media in that it is believed that once you’ve pointed out hypocrisy, you’ve won an argument. This is ridiculous. YES, this photoshopping of history in the past was wrong. That doesn’t mean that it’s okay to do so in the opposite direction in the present!

And I could apply the same argument to many other common attacks made on social media etc. in this crazy political landscape. Often the attacks are not at general history but personal history. Both sides will look all over someone’s past for dirt and this will very often be blown out of proportion (and context) and used to cancel a campaign, career, or life. We seem to have lost any understanding of context, middle-ground or even conversation. To return again to 'Harry Potter', the idea of Harry having to square his link to Voldemort while trying to be a good person is very relevant to the reality of being human. And I know that many protestors understand this, but writing off often human aspects as evil is a common trait of social media users and doesn't help anyone.

And now I’ve noticed the legions of people who are found guilty-by-association, much like the presumably existent innocent members of Slytherin House are maligned by our favourite protagonists. Take the obliteration of Ivanka Trump on social media every time she ever did or said anything nice, because her father is Donald Trump so she couldn’t win. Or more topically, the firing of Aleksandar Katai from LA Galaxy for his wife’s opinions on BLM and the firing of the stepmother of Police Officer Garrett Rolfe from her job at a mortgage company after the Rayshard Brooks shooting. To return to the initial topic, I’ve seen calls for statues to be removed based on who their father was, and I’ve seen some ludicrously tenuous links as reasons for removal. One of these was in my hometown of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where a student newspaper reported calls for the removal of Grey’s Monument, because as part of his ability to abolish slavery (yes, that’s right, abolish slavery), taxes had to be used to pay reperations to owners. It’s a ludicrous link especially when you think about how far ahead he was of his time. But all it took was some tenuous link to bring a group of counter-protestors to come and “protect” the monument before the streets turned into all-out carnage, demonstrating the extreme ugliness of the other extreme.

And with regards to JK Rowling, perhaps these fans who are so readily willing to cancel her for reasons that I personally can't understand anyway, could reflect on the lessons of 'Harry Potter' in the treatment of people and the role they play in society, whether that be historical or current, instead of burning books or lasering off their Hogwarts tattoos. In a slightly more perfect world I might’ve been able to write this whole article as a plea to the radical left to re-read these books, which so many of them loved, and think about their lessons in light of the culture wars. But cancel culture works in mysterious and deeply inconvenient ways and it’s only through the cancellation of 'Harry Potter' that I’m reminded of this interpretation of it. I can only hope my own methods of persuasion fair better, because I do hope that we can move towards a better world for those affected by underlying issues in society, something we clearly need to do. I just think the methods so many have chosen are ineffective, counter-productive and harmful. To quote Professor Dumbledore, “we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”

But in a final plea to those who still aren’t convinced I will use a real-world example. Remember the below image of the BLM supporter who carried an injured counter-protestor to safety?

If you aren’t going to take a leaf out of Rowling’s book, I’d encourage you to take one out of his.

opinion
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About the Creator

Matty Long

Jack of all trades, master of watching movies. Also particularly fond of tea, pizza, country music, watching football, and travelling.

X: @eardstapa_

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