Fan of [Harry Potter], the Pakistani-Canadian illustrator Anoosha Syed was victim of racist attacks on her social networks after posting an illustration depicting the character [Hermione] with black skin.
The artist, though expecting a certain discontentment, was astonished at the amount of comments that harshly criticized her for not using the covers of books or films as reference for her illustration.
In an interview to Huffpost, she says that she designed the characters the way she imagines them, being a part of a minority herself, she would like to be more represented in the books she reads. On Twitter, the illustrator answered to the attacks directly: “Hermione and Harry’s race is never stated in the books. I’ll draw whatever I want, thanks.”
https://twitter.com/foxville_art/status/909961947495358465
[J.K. Rowling] retweeted it in support. In 2015, with the casting of Noma Dumezweni for the Hermione’s role in the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the author had already declared to agree with the impersonation of Hermione with black skin.
News written by: Gabriela Benevides
Translated by: Mauren Ziak
Reviewed by: Gabriela Benevides
