J. K. Rowling is getting called out over racism again on Twitter. This time it’s about the names and locations of her international wizarding schools.
jk back at it again with that racism 
— 𝙗𝙪𝙚𝙣𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙖 ☭ (@_remanso) February 29, 2020
There are so many things wrong with this map holy shit
— Bernie Experience Requiem (@RealDaddyMarx) March 2, 2020
Using a fan-created map that is significantly easier to read than the official one, Twitter user @gayrauder asked people to reply with where in the world they’d go to school. The responses, with many users appearing to encounter Rowling’s take on global magical education for the first time, were less than positive.
according to this, which wizarding school should you attend? pic.twitter.com/9aE6dkujAK
— 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 (@gayrauder) February 29, 2020
Many found the placement of the schools disturbingly Eurocentric. While Europe has four separate schools, the two most populous countries in the world, India, and China, (who between them have 36.17% of the world’s population), share one between them and several other countries. Africa. meanwhile, only has one formal school covering the entire sub-Saharan region (there are apparently a handful of small local schools which “are hard to keep track of”).
peak eurocentrism to give europe like 4 schools but nah every other continent gets about one
— Blumen (@matoi1013) February 29, 2020
Imagine School #10 tho… China and India are the two most populous countries in the world.
— ΔCHOOΞ 
(@ACH00E) March 2, 2020
Most genetically, culturally and linguistically diverse place on earth. One school.
— Thom the Boglord (@ThomasB73729298) March 2, 2020
On top of that, the combination of countries she decided should share one school is horrifying—or at least deeply weird.
All of the Middle East being at a single school. That, um, that’s optimistic.
— 
Phil
(@Lt_Fedora) March 2, 2020
All of latin America (except from Mexico) lumped together with the Guyanes and Suriname? Like, why? God, I hate what jk Rowling is doing to her own universe.
— Sara Angel 
(@Sara_Angel_) March 1, 2020
Some Harry Potter fans from Cuba, The Caribbean, and Mexico weren’t entirely happy that Rowling placed them with the American school instead of Castelobruxo in Latin America. While they may technically be part of the North American continent, culturally and linguistically speaking it doesn’t really make sense.
Cubans and mexicans with yankees instead LATAM or Spain!? Sorry but not.
— El Analisto 
(@Analisto94) March 1, 2020
Same I’m Puerto Rican 
— adri’s min⁷ cave (@Themincave1) March 1, 2020
y'all could be vibing with us and the rest of the latinos at castelobruxo but they just threw y'all with gringos….. the struggle
— marina (@moonmelies) March 1, 2020
Bahamas, Mexico and Greater Antilles let’s plan mutiny and escape to Castelobruxo together pls 
— adri’s min⁷ cave (@Themincave1) March 1, 2020
Then there’s the idea that Japan and Korea would share one school, located in Japan no less—something which has deeply troubling implications given the two countries’ history.
@zaccheus_e jk Rowling not understanding geopolitics, or anything really. Japanese and Koreans go to the same school???
— Masood Habib (@The_king_habiby) March 2, 2020
everyone's accurately making fun of this but my favourite thing is Koreans having to go to Japan for wizard school, which seems fine and good https://t.co/b0GyPnUZv1
— Shin (@sistersinead) March 2, 2020
Even within Europe, it gets ridiculous. For some reason, the UK only has to share a school with Ireland (which is a problem in and of itself) while the rest of Europe has to split three between them.
This map only makes sense if you're a brit
— Juanfran 
(@Drivermega) March 1, 2020
4 schools and still put Scandianavians with balkanians and Italy and Greece, that founded European civilizations, still don't have a school..Definitely Ukcentrism.
— Federica (@NowakixHiro) March 1, 2020
Put italians in the cauldron too, I remember JK said that much 
that’s real a recipe for a disaster 
— Greta 
(@edieji95) March 1, 2020
It’s still better than the rest of the world, of course, but it feels a bit disproportionate. As Twitter user @microwave_steak points out, the size of the population served by Hogwarts is only 66 million to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic’s 157 million, which is small fry to the 3 billion covered by School Number Ten in South Asia.
Population supported by each schoolHogwarts: 66mBeauxbatons: 157mSchool #10: 3 billion
— microwave_steak (@microwave_steak) March 2, 2020
school #11??? bruh there are a LOT of people in south east asia how are we all gonna fit in one school 
the wizard population density must be like 1 for every 25 million people. and also like,, wdym ALL OF THE PACIFIC together, there are gonna be like FORTY LANGUAGES SJSHAUS
— levi 
(@lad_levi) February 29, 2020
The language issues alone would be incredible. While both the UK and Ireland do have English as an official language, none of the other regions covered by one school share a common tongue. Sub-Saharan Africa alone has twenty-four official state languages, and over a thousand that are actually spoken in daily life.
wonder which of the twenty languages classes at durmstrang are taught in 🤩
— jace the incisable (@gaysiriusblack) February 29, 2020
The languages are different too in castelobruxo
— heaven (@trauma6th) February 29, 2020
The language issue is also like ten times worse in that africa school
— 0091, Four-Armed Bimbo Drone (@Lockark) March 2, 2020
This just shows jk has no idea about geography or anything outside the UK, how tf is one school going to contain a whole ass continent? Or which language is gonna be used in the scandinavian/central eu school? All of India and China in one school? This is so stupid
— disaster elf
mcr 4 life (@pokuliusz) March 1, 2020
Bizarrely, there also doesn’t seem to be a Spanish-speaking school despite it being one of the most commonly spoken languages in the world. The only school in Latin America is located in Portuguese-speaking Brazil, while European Spaniards go to Beauxbatons.
There are no spanish schools for some reason. Spain goes to a french school 
— Piedras y Pollos (@poporrapax) March 1, 2020
How is the majority of Latin America supposed to study at Castelobruxo, when we speak Spanish and a small part even speaks French? Jk failed her geography classes
— Soraya Montenegro, Mrs. Dev Patel (@mottisjandra) February 29, 2020
All latin americans speak spanish except for brazil and WE have to speak portuguese? I think the fvck not
— inner child⁷ (@softlytaeguk) February 29, 2020
And WTF México with EUA and Canadá???????????? If she had put some effort into this we would have at least 3 schools in América, one for each major language spoken here! 
— bárbara (@barbaraescreve) March 1, 2020
Spaniard mages going to a school in france. Yes of course. Very realistic.
— Thymocyte (@thymocyte) March 1, 2020
There are no spanish schools for some reason. Spain goes to a french school
— Piedras y Pollos (@poporrapax) March 1, 2020
People are distinctly unimpressed by Rowling’s use of language herself here, particularly in naming the schools in the world outside of Europe and North America. While the European Schools got vaguely interesting names, the Japanese and Korean school’s name roughly translates to “magic place,” while the Latin American one means “wizard castle”.
"one school for the uk and then one per continent especially the poc ones with litteraly hundreds of millions of inhabitants and and hurdreds of different cultures and languages they're basically all the same anyway" queen of worldbuilding 
/s
— saucy sauce (@seumflower) March 1, 2020
love how MENA, East Asian, and SEA/Oceanic countries have no cool names for schools…for some reason…
— Kori (@KoriedAway) March 1, 2020
Any normal person would have come up with that name and thought "hmm did the wizards come after the portugese or with them? And what happened to the wizards that were there before" but nope
— Crowsa Luxemburg (@quendergeer) March 2, 2020
But worse is the fact that she actually didn’t name the schools serving MENA, most of Asia and Oceania, calling them Schools Number Nine, Ten, and Eleven instead. Which makes it seem even more egregious that she hadn’t assigned a reasonable number of schools to those regions. After all, if you’re not going to name or flesh them out, there’s no reason not to put a few more in.
this is so fucking funny. MENA and the part of the world with like almost three billion people don't even get names for their schools. Italians and Koreans are barred from wizarding. https://t.co/2M9ENZCHjc
— Jane 
(@JaneOst_) March 2, 2020
I attend the uhh *squinting* FILL THIS IN LATER school of racist mumbo jumbo
— Crowsa Luxemburg (@quendergeer) March 2, 2020
I love the one that’s just called school #9
— Amy Rose I 5 weeks 
(@SushiRollPhan) March 1, 2020
Love how half of the world population has to share a school and it doesn't even have a name
— Cherokee Jack (@Mewtopian69) March 2, 2020
All in all, the verdict on her world-building is distinctly negative.
this is so badly separated im not even doing it 
— zey ⊹ ☾ ⊹ (@sadnaenae) March 1, 2020
This brings up a question I didn't ever think about.Did European witches and wizards participate in colonialism?Also how come the British Isles and Japan and Korea get schools while China and India have to share? https://t.co/rRpu4A2KI7
— Happy UnionTines Day (@Donuthole2712) March 2, 2020
They are different in all of them, it’s very bad world design
— Mephistophelischer Schurke (@Spatux) March 1, 2020
With a lot of Twitter users calling it an example of colonialism and “everything that’s wrong with the English world view into one map.”
Oh hey look. Somebody put everything wrong with the English worldview into one map.
— Ammon A. (@ideasmanphd) March 2, 2020
As I said: Rowing is a fuckig colonialist. She still sees the entire world through the eyes of colonialism. https://t.co/ycuS2wGqGA
— Alex – Very beaten Alpaca 
(@KaenKazui) March 2, 2020
There are 58 countries in Africa, and 1500-2000 different languages.One school for all of them doesn't sound like education, that sounds like colonialism. https://t.co/DnCs2Sf3hZ
— Shyni (@TheTepidMess) March 2, 2020
I can smell British Colonialism from here. https://t.co/aXQC0rghY4
— Exosfera 
(@exosferablog) February 29, 2020
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