Dear Fellow Activists of All Stripes: Don't be a Snape | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Politics and Activism

Dear Fellow Activists of All Stripes: Don't be a Snape

An entertaining character isn't always someone you want to emulate

24
Dear Fellow Activists of All Stripes: Don't be a Snape
romper

Recently I've begun reading the Harry Potterbooks for the first time. That's right, at twenty one years old I've never read J.K. Rowling's famous series, but now I'm jumping on the bandwagon ten years late. I'm only about halfway through the first one, but I've really been enjoying them so far (and slowly but surely all the references I've been hearing people make for years are starting to make so much more sense). There's a scene relatively near the beginning, during Harry's first official day of school at Hogwarts, when he walks into Professor Snape's Potions class. Do you remember that scene? It's probably been a while since you read it, for those of you who read the books when they first came out, but Snape ask Harry a bunch of obscure questions about potion ingredients, which Harry of course doesn't know the answers to, and Snape uses his ignorance to embarrass him in front of the other students. This is something I’ve been noticing is a problem in various aspects of the social justice movement lately. I mean, no one is quizzing students on potion ingredients and humiliating them for not knowing the answers, but I think we can all agree that what Snape did was really unfair. Harry just learned that wizards exist days ago. He hasn’t had time to learn any of this stuff. Of course he doesn’t know about crazy potion ingredients, he’s barely learned what magic even is.

Likewise, in the real world we can’t expect people to be experts on anything right out of the starting gate. No one is born with an innate knowledge of American race politics, or socially constructed gender roles, or the effects of class war on the lowest income citizens of a society, or anything else. We all had to learn. And yes, ideally people should be interested and want to learn, and shouldn’t put the burden solely on others to educate them. If you want to learn about racism you need to do your own research. But for anyone who is well informed about social injustice and wants to educate others, you need to give people room to be ignorant if you want them to ever be educated. Everyone, especially people who have never personally experienced the negative effects of the kind of injustice they want to learn about, need the room to ask stupid questions, or the same questions everyone has been asking forever, they need room to think about things in a reductionistic way and be uninformed before they’re ever going to think about things insightfully and be informed. It’s like learning a new language; you have to get past the awkward, fumbling, I-don’t-know-what-I’m-doing phase before you can do anything productive. As frustrating as it can be when people who should know better are uneducated about how privilege works, attacking them for it is one way to ensure that they will never pursue that education. So don’t be a Snape, give people the room they need to figure out their own prejudices and the systems they live in. That’s the only way more people will understand.


Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
I'm serious

There are tons of unisex names that are popular: Taylor, Alex, Bailey, etc. There are also numerous names that are used for both sexes, but they’re not seen as “unisex” yet. People are slowly becoming accustomed to the dual use of these names, but for the most part, in their minds they associate certain names with certain sexes. And that leaves those of us with these names in many awkward situations.

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

16 Secrets Anthropology Majors Never Admit To

You know that all of these things apply to you. You'll just never tell.

5818
cave
CSU

I'm an anthropology major, and I love every minute of it. I couldn't tell you why, but I guess there's just something about studying different lifestyles that absolutely fascinates me. But anthropology majors definitely have our weird sides, especially when you go to a school that is filled with mostly Business and Bio majors. But us weirdos definitely have a lot in common, specifically these 16 things.

Keep Reading...Show less
pale girl

Everyone has insecurities, that's just a fact. You didn't ask to be born this way. You didn't ask to inherit the one trait no one else in your family has. And you definitely didn't ask to be this ghostly white. But as soon as you've learned to live with it for a while (less wrinkles later on in life, right? right???) someone has to ruin it for you. They have to flaunt they're perfectly tanned body from Spring Break and hold their sun-kissed skin against yours. But I've had enough... here are the things that perpetually pale individuals are tired of hearing.

Keep Reading...Show less
music sheet

Being a music major is not all kicks and giggles. In fact, there are days when I question my sanity and doubt myself as a musician. I know I am not the only one going through the struggle, and so here are 13 GIFs that I know my fellow music majors can relate to...

Keep Reading...Show less
Bob's Burgers
Flickr

1. The witty burger names.

Blue is the warmest cheese burger

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments