Finite-whitewashing

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Name: Finite-whitewashing
Date(s): c. 2012–2015
Submissions: Yes
Type: Reblogs, canon resources
Fandom: Harry Potter
Scope: Anti-whitewashing
URL: http://finite-whitewashing.tumblr.com (defunct)
Sidebar of the Tumblr blog featuring fanart of Parvati and Padma Patil by IriusAbellatrix.
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Finite-whitewashing was "an anti-whitewashing HP blog" on Tumblr. It was aimed at spreading awareness and calling out examples of characters of color being depicted as white in fanart and face claims.

It also posted "good fanart of PoC characters, racebending of White characters, things generally related to whitewashing/racism, and general appreciation of Characters of Colour in HP."

The name of the blog comes from Finite Incantatem, the incantation to counter or reverse other spells. It was inspired by the multifandom blog damnlayoffthebleach.

The blog was deleted by March 2015.

Finite-whitewashing's PoC Characters List

The blog maintained a list of "PoC characters in the Harry Potter books/films/games", including characters whose race is unknown but are frequently interpreted by fans as PoC.

PoC characters in the Harry Potter books/films/games

This obvs isn’t including all the characters from Quidditch World Cup because many of the teams are from countries where most of the population isn’t White.

UPDATE 6/5/2012: I’ve added astricks [*] to non-canon, but highly speculate/interpreted as PoC characters.

UPDATE 9/5/2012: Added more info on Cho [thanks athenasaurus!] Padma, and Parvati, and added Mungo Bonham to the list.

UPDATE 1/6/2012: Added Hestia Jones.

UPDATE 10/6/2012: Added Arthur, Harper, Ritchie Coote, Emma Vane, and Celestina Warbeck.

UPDATE 29/07/2012: Added wizard card characters.

  • * Albus/Ariana/Aberforth Dumbledore [see Kendra for why they may be biracial]
  • Angelina Johnson [described as “tall and Black”]
  • Alicia Spinnet
  • Arthur the Hufflepuff [a Black boy from the first three videogames]
  • Avery Hawksworth [Captain of the English Quidditch Team in 1994]
  • Aurora Sinistra [Astronomy professor. In the Lego games a woman who looks just like the Black unidentified teacher from the films is labelled as Sinistra. When you google her some images of a white lady come up, however this is Madam Pince.]
  • Babbity Rabbity [From The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Appears Korean in Jo’s drawing in the book]
  • Bane the centaur [“Black hair and bodied”]
  • Blaise Zabini [“a black boy with high cheek bones”]
  • Bem [Very dark skinned Black boy. Film character only; a.k.a “The All Knowing Gryffindor”]
  • Celestina Warbeck [Mrs. Weasleys favourite singer whom Fleur does not like. Shown to Black in drawings by Jo.]
  • Cho Chang [Race never specified; assumed to be of Asian ethnicity due to her; most likely Chinese (see here) (Played by Chinese actress in the films)]
  • Dean Thomas
  • Duncan Inglebee [Ravenclaw Beater in the Quidditch World Cup videogame; very minor character but thought he was worth a mention as he attends Hogwarts]
  • * Emma Vane [may be related to Romilda]
  • Fred Weasley II [biracial; his mother is Angelina]
  • Gwenog Jones [Captain of Ginny’s Quidditch Team, The Holyhead Harpies. Shown to be Black in official drawings by JK Rowling]
  • Harper the Slytherin [Slytherin’s reserve seeker, he’s Black and very dark in the videogame]
  • * Helga Hufflepuff [Drawn by Jo as white, but very often drawn as mixed race. Seriously, to the extent that her tag has more PoC dreamcasts that some of the canon PoC’s]
  • * Hermione Granger [One of the most popular PoC interpreted characters]
  • * Hestia Jones [often speculated to be related to Gwenog, which would make her at least partially Black]
  • * Kendra Dumbledore [Harry says her appearance reminds him of Native Americans, however we never learn if she actually is of Native American descent or if she just appears that way]
  • Kingsley Shacklebolt
  • Leanne the Hufflepuff [Race not specified in book, but is played by an Asian (Asian-appearing?) actress in the film.]
  • * Lavender Brown [she was played by a dark actress in the earlier films, and many people have kept that image of her]
  • Lee Jordan
  • Magorian the centaur [kind of chestnut-coloured in the films]
  • Michael Corner [While he is played by a White kid in the films, Hermione describes him as “the dark one” in the OotP book]
  • Padma Patil [Race never specified; assumed to be of Indian ethnicity based on name (see here) (Played by actress of Bengali descent in films)]
  • Parvati Patil [Race never specified; assumed to be Indian based on name (see here) (Played by actress of Bengali descent in films)]
  • Ritchie Coote [Gryffindor beater in HBP, played by a light-skinned Black boy in the film]
  • Romilda Vane [played by a mixed-race actress]
  • Roxanne [biracial; her mother is Angelina]
  • Sue Li [Assumed to be of Asian descent based on her name. Ravenclaw half-blood in Harry’s year; mentioned only on Pottermore and in Harry Potter and Me.]
  • Terry Boot [played by an Asian actor in film]
  • Waitress who Harry flirted with in that incredibly awkward scene at the beginning of HBP.

Wizard card characters

  • Dzou Yen [Chinese alchemist]
  • * Hengist of Upper Barnton [looks like he might be a “giant of colour” - definately darker than the other giants]
  • Mungo Bonham [The wizard who founded St. Mungo’s hospital. Was also shown to be Black in Jo’s drawing of him on her old Wizard of the Month calendar.]
  • Quong Po [Chinese dragonologist]
  • Wilfred Elphick [very dark skinned, looks Middle Eastern or Egyptian]

If I’ve missed anyone out, be sure to tell me![1]

References

  1. ^ PoC characters in the Harry Potter books/films/games, May 2012. Reblogged by thetrolliestcritic, 10 May 2013. Brackets and external links in original.