Amazing Slam Poem Criticizes J.K. Rowling for Lack of Diversity in Harry Potter

The Harry Potter series is unequivocally one of the most beloved collections of books ever published. With over 450 million copies in print, translated into 73 languages, and turned into eight movies that were distributed in nearly every country on Earth, the wonderful wizarding world is incredibly far-reaching. But the expansiveness of the franchise doesn’t necessarily translate into a diverse cast of characters in the fantasy fiction. Just ask college student Rachel Rostad.

The junior at Macalester College in St. Louis called out author J.K. Rowling at an annual College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational (CUPSI) with a poem Rostad wrote from the perspective of Cho Chang, the only Asian at Hogwarts. (While she won the “Best of the Rest” award in 2013 for her work, the video has resurfaced because the 2014 CUPSIs recently took place.) The piece, titled “‪To J.K. Rowling, from Cho Chang,” speaks to the lack of diversity in the Harry Potter plot and the stereotypes Rowling uses to portray the limited number of minority characters that are actually included.

Rostad (as Chong) describes the fact that millions of Asian girls rejoiced when Cho was introduced to the series because it offered them another potential Halloween costume other than a Geisha or Mulan. But after getting to know Cho, it turns out that her character was a major disappointment. Instead of being in the popular Gryffindor house fighting death eaters and performing complex spells, she’s in Ravenclaw — which everyone knows is for nerds — and sheds tears all the time. It makes sense that Cho Chang cries a lot (her boyfriend died after all) but Rostad points out that authors are responsible for creating characters and the mannerisms that they assign to them is a choice. And this choice, in particular, was intentionally set up by Rowling — and she has admitted this much — to weaken Cho and heighten the strength of Ginny Weasley (who happens to be white) and make her look like a more appealing love match for Harry.

Rostad also criticizes Rowling's name choice. “Cho and Chang are both last names. They’re both Korean last names. I am supposed to be Chinese and being named Cho Chang is like a Frenchman being named Garcia Sanchez,” she says. “So thank you. Thank you for giving me no heritage. Thank you for giving me a name as generic as a ninja costume, as chopstick hair ornaments.” Interestingly, Rostad points out, Cho Chang is just one of many pop culture references in a long tradition of “turning Asian women into a tragic fetish.” She notes “Madame Butterfly” and “Miss Saigon” as examples of perpetuating an Asian female archetype too.

“Rowling might not have been aware of the racist implications," Rostad notes. "But that doesn’t mean they weren’t there.”

Warning: Video contains profanity.