The Corner

Voldemort, Immigration Restrictionist

Did you know that the Harry Potter books are a plea for open borders? So says this lady, who is—what else?—a college professor (of history):

The main audiences for Rowling’s book are in Britain and the United States. In both countries, tolerance is officially promoted at the same time that one group of people is conspicuously excluded: immigrants. Citizenship-by-birth may be racially blind if a country has open borders, but with walls, border patrols, and a long history of racially restrictive immigration laws, “citizenship” becomes just another means to enforce discrimination and exclusion.

….

Perhaps we can all learn something from Rowlings characters: from the Weasley family, ardent defenders of the rights of the non-wizard-born, on to Hermione, the “mud-blood” who out-wizards them all, and finally Harry, whose quest to defeat the evil Voldemort is inextricably bound up with the defense of the rights of those whom Voldemort seeks to expel, exploit and destroy. If we cannot see reflections of our own national discourse on immigrants in their struggle, perhaps we are closing our eyes to Rowling’s most important lesson.

See? Citizenship—oops, sorry: “citizenship”—is just another contrivance of the evil Voldemort, intended to baffle and confound us witless muggles.

John Derbyshire — Mr. Derbyshire is a former contributing editor of National Review.
Exit mobile version