The one reason you shouldn’t support new HP

alicynwonderland:

Now if you don’t care, okay. Go ahead and support it. But the new Harry Potter is literally the pinnacle of white appropriation.

But, you say, but Alicyn! It’s not! She’s honoring Native Americans!

No she isn’t. And let’s go over why.
-She isn’t using any creatures real name, she’s using English or made up names.
– She isn’t using any creatures real origin story.
– She is attributing each houses discovery to a white man. (I wanna kind remind ppl the Spanish and French were also in America.)
– Some of these creatures have sacred colors or names associated with them and they do not correlate to the colors JK Rowling chose.
– In fact, no Native American was consulted or asked and when they found out, the community was very barefaced about their outrage.

So Alicyn what can I do?

-Don’t go see that movie that she’s making.
-Don’t get sorted in the new houses.
-Spread the real stories of these creatures instead of the white washed version.
-Encourage people not to make fan fiction based on it.

But Alicyn! I don’t want to do those things.

Well, that’s fine too. But be aware that you are an active participant in the erasure of several cultures.

ginnydi:

Please don’t let your hero worship of JKR (or your love of Harry Potter) make you an opponent to Native people trying to voice why Ilvermorny is problematic. Please, I’m begging you, just try to keep an open mind, be respectful, and listen to what Native readers are saying. If you’ve formed your opinions on Ilvermorny based entirely on things that white people have written, you are missing a critical perspective.

Here is a curated list of Native writings on Ilvermorny. I know Harry Potter means a lot to us, and I know it sucks to recognize that JKR may have really fucked up here, but you owe it to Native readers to at least hear their words before you brush them off.

Fun fact

smallrevolutionary:

jeankd:

wtfzurtopic:

beoriseyo:

fatbodypolitics:

giizhigaate:

the-yaadihla-girls:

istamaza:

thecuriousviolet:

Native Americans weren’t allowed US citizenship until 1924.

Let that sink in. We lived here first…for thousands of years. And less than a hundred years ago we were finally given citizenship.

We also fought in WWI despite not being US citizens.

In Arizona, natives weren’t granted the right to vote until 1948. Think how that type of neglect ties into resource colonization as infrastructure was developed within years prior.

In addition: the indigenous peoples of Canada were not recognized as Human Beings until the year 1960.
Now let that shit sink in.

In the US it wasn’t until 1968 that the Indian Civil Rights Act was passed and allowed for the right to freedom of speech / assembly / press, a jury trial, the right to an attorney etc. It’s so fucking frustrating.

and it wasn’t until 1978 that we were legally allowed to practice our own religions. in a nation founded on religious freedoms, it was illegal to practice our own religions. in our own country. how fucked up is that?

Aaaand Native Americans weren’t entitled to their own languages (had no legal rights to teach them in their schools, use them in business) until the Native American Language Act of 1990.

I teach this to my students, because NONE of it is in a single textbook. This is and act of indoctrination

Boosting because I didn’t know any of this.