Hermione Granger means so much to so many girls, myself included. She’s smart and brave — the smartest witch of her age — and saved the world. She’s someone who prefers books to people (except a select few) and can be brass and bold at times when girls are usually told not to be. She’s a role model and a mirror. And because her race is never specified in the Harry Potter series, many girls around the world can picture someone who looks like them as her character. She was of course, cast as white in the Hollywood adaptations of the books — because Hollywood gonna Hollywood — but that doesn’t mean that she has to be white in all adaptations of the series. Buzzfeed already showed us the mounds of Hermione-as-black fanart that exists in the world. And now that dream that so many of us had is coming true.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the J.K. Rowling penned stage play coming to London’s West End next year, has found its middle aged trio.
We’re thrilled to confirm Jamie Parker, Noma Dumezweni & Paul Thornley will play Harry, Hermione & Ron #CursedChild pic.twitter.com/s1rsDbrXMO
— Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (@CursedChildLDN) December 21, 2015
Hermione Granger has been cast as Noma Dumezweni, a Swaziland-born, Olivier Award winning actress. (She won the Olivier, aka the British Tony, for “A Raisin in the Sun.”) She’s also been in Doctor Who, another nerd favorite.
Please excuse me while I flail a bit:
;KSDHGADFKJGHSDSJFA ;K HERMIONE IS BLACK JSHGLSDFJAKGH A BLACK WOMAN IS THE SMARTEST WITCH OF HER AGE AND SAVED THE WORLD AND DID HARRY POTTER’S HOMEWORK BUT ONLY WHEN HE REALLY NEEDED IT DONE, OTHERWISE SHE MADE HIM AND RON DO IT THEMSELVES OTHERWISE THEY WOULD NEVER LEARN A;DKF ADFJAKSD HERMIONE IS BLACK AND WAS BEAUTIFUL AT THE YULE BALL (because she relaxed her hair with Sleekeazy’s, which is apparently where the Potter’s get their wealth from — could the Potter’s be black too? Making Harry mixed race? back to flailing) AJFALSDDKHGALSDFHAS I JUST !!!! !!!! THIS MEANS SO MUCH! THANK YOU JO!!
/End flailing.
We of course know that every time a person of color is cast in a white role, even a defaulted one — one that was never specified as white but because we’re so used to all the books being about white people, we (even PoC) default to seeing the characters as white in our own imaginations — racists go crazy. I can’t even link all the times we’ve written about it on this website alone. Somehow, it’s unfathomable to some people that Hermione can be black. “I will just always see her as Emma Watson.” So you’re also upset that Harry and Ron aren’t Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, right? That’s just one of a million arguments that I refuse to engage with because it’s ridiculous and makes me too angry to type.
Representation matters. The tweets of joy I saw across my timeline are way more important to me than the tweets of rage by “fans” who refuse to allow other races to see themselves in “their” character.
THANK YOU @jk_rowling. THANK YOU.
— Sailor ConStar (@ConStar24) December 21, 2015
All Black everything https://t.co/84jPcDnHfB
— Black Girl Nerds (@BlackGirlNerds) December 21, 2015
Every fiber of my being is shouting in rejoice bc HERMIONE is Black and can't no one say anything about it. pic.twitter.com/SK4isqiUPX
— her name is cyn. (@cynfinite) December 21, 2015
Sometimes the world gives you exactly what you need. https://t.co/aWkqbwoBYX
— alanna bennett 😩 (@AlannaBennett) December 20, 2015
.@BlackGirlNerds we've completely lost it over here due to this news. SO HAPPY!
— Black Girls Create (@blkgirlscreate) December 21, 2015
For the racist assholes who can't deal w/having to find a part of themselves in someone who doesn't look like them https://t.co/I5VyRvwTm8
— Cami (@cambam_26) December 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/iSmashFizzle/status/678712717180608512
BLACK HERMIONE!?!?!?! *rushes to renew passport and buy a ticket to London* https://t.co/xHyqFibbqc
— sarah HANNAH gómez (@shgmclicious) December 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/samkasse/status/678746990168154113
And Hermione has developed a charm for a never-ending supply of that good conditioner https://t.co/oscPJSsvw4
— Demigod of Savagery (@DeadlyDiva) December 21, 2015
I'm assuming white people crying about political correctness and black Hermione have always been ok with this. pic.twitter.com/9LOq0eFBfY
— Joebot (@60th_Street) December 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/DonNohVarr/status/678969749955457024
As a black girl who identified with Hermione soooo much growing up, thank you @jk_rowling. Twelve year old me is crying happy tears.
— Angie Thomas (@angiecthomas) December 20, 2015
https://twitter.com/faithy_waithi/status/678930888848236545
A couple of internet friends of mine, over at Black Girls Nerd Out do a Harry Potter podcast called #WizardTeam (which you should check it out). They are black girls who have always identified with Hermione. Here are their reactions:
Both @robyn_ravenclaw and @yana_hallows are completely taken out by this news. YALL HERMIONE IS BLACK.
— Black Girls Create (@blkgirlscreate) December 20, 2015
#HermioneIsBlack #WizardTeam pic.twitter.com/EPWpsTC7Ve
— Black Girls Create (@blkgirlscreate) December 21, 2015
#HermioneIsBlack pic.twitter.com/BYKiP7kOHu
— Black Girls Create (@blkgirlscreate) December 21, 2015
I AM NO LONGER THE "BLACK HERMIONE" I JUST AM HER
— bayana a. davis (@yanawroteit) December 20, 2015
Hermione bookish and awkward with strong morals and a belief in social justice looks like me. She looks like @yana_hallows #HermioneIsBlack
— Robyn-Renée Cake Ace (@Robyn_Rambles) December 20, 2015
#HermioneIsBlack #HermioneIsMe pic.twitter.com/F3bV7yfEvh
— bayana a. davis (@yanawroteit) December 20, 2015
And Jo herself approves. So those upset will really need to get over it.
Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione 😘 https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/ginnyweaslettpo/status/678717857539182593
@jk_rowling I just started to sob. I spent last night reading horrible comments about the casting from so-called fans. Thank you for this.
— fe5e {comma} thee (@theefefe) December 21, 2015
As does Matt Lewis. Bless you, Neville.
And Neville Longbottom was blonde. I really don't care. Good luck to her. https://t.co/0JNjK3Pe0V
— Matthew Lewis (@Mattdavelewis) December 21, 2015
While I love that she co-signs this casting choice, this does not make her the patron saint of inclusiveness. She’s not saying Hermione was always black, she’s just saying that Hermione could be black. There is a difference. A midst the joy, it was also pointed out that Jo makes a habit of not mentioning things like race or sexuality of the Harry Potter characters until after the books are over.
"She could be black!"
"Dumbledore was gay, I just never mentioned it."
"There are gay & Jewish kids in Hogwarts. Just never in the book".— Kayleigh Donaldson (@Ceilidhann) December 21, 2015
What I need from writers is that same kind of clarity and explicitness. And I'm not going to defend that kind of ambiguity. Nope.
— Corn Salad. IYKYK. 🌽🥒🥬🥕 (@ItsNasB) December 21, 2015
For these reasons, I'm not gonna fault anyone who didn't see Hermione as black. JKR could have been very clear about that if she wanted.
— Corn Salad. IYKYK. 🌽🥒🥬🥕 (@ItsNasB) December 21, 2015
How much more powerful would it have been to include Hermione’s race (as a non-white person) or Dumbledore’s sexuality, or that Anthony Goldstein was Jewish (this last one we may get a hint of in Fantastic Beasts, as Anthony’s relative Porpentina becomes Newt’s wife)?
And speaking of Fantastic Beasts, which I’ve also discussed:
soo can I point out why they were able to have Black Hermione on stage but no POC protags in Fantastic Beasts/truths of systemic racism or
— Mazel Tov Cocktail (@MiriamAnneW) December 21, 2015
There are plenty of explicitly stated PoC characters, why couldn’t Hermione have been one of them? White girls would have learned to deal with identifying with a black character. Just like I identified with Hermione despite our difference in race.
Harry Potter remains a not perfectly inclusive universe — and those conversations still need to happen, without them, this casting would not have happened — but it’s made big strides with this casting announcement. (Now get us to a “swarthy” Rofl Scamander…).
I will end this post with what is probably my favorite tweet regarding this casting:
https://twitter.com/bridgetminamore/status/678882818164981764
Mischief managed.