A now-viral video showcases the moment that a student realized his claims of author J.K. Rowling’s alleged bigotry were based on rumors and reports rather than things she had actually said.
Political commentator Lee Harris shared the video, adding the caption, “This is utterly brilliant. A student accuses @jk_rowling of being transphobic. This teacher skillfully dissects the claim and challenges it by asking questions. He teaches not what to think, but how to think critically. Watch until the end. You see the epiphany in real-time.”
WATCH:
This is utterly brilliant. A student accuses @jk_rowling of being transphobic. This teacher skilfully dissects the claim and challenges it by asking questions.
He teaches not what to think, but how to think critically.
Watch until the end.
You see the epiphany in real-time. pic.twitter.com/x00gWdOugc— Lee Harris (@addicted2newz) February 3, 2024
The video began with the student, who was off camera, making the assertion that the Harry Potter creator was “transphobic” and asking the teacher whether her “bigotry” had changed his opinions about her work.
The teacher, instead of answering the question outright, presented a thought experiment to the student and asked him to explain why he believed Rowling to be “bigoted” or “transphobic.”
Almost immediately, the student admitted that he had based his assessment on things other people had claimed — but then he went to Rowling’s social media and read one X post aloud.
“Dress however you please. Call yourself whatever you like. Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. Live your best life in peace and security. But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real?”
Dress however you please.
Call yourself whatever you like.
Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you.
Live your best life in peace and security.
But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 19, 2019
The teacher put the question directly to the student: “So you find that bigoted?”
The student admitted that he personally did not see anything bigoted about that post, adding, “I’m just going with what a lot of other people have said.”
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The teacher pressed him to consider further, arguing that critical thinking meant dissecting the post for himself rather than relying on what other people thought. Noting as the discussion concluded that there was “not much difference” between what the student himself believed and what Rowling had said, he asked, “Do you think it’s fair that there’s a – that she’s being attacked by a large group of people, people are calling her like you said at the beginning of this conversation, you said, ‘Given the fact that J.K. Rowling is transphobic, how do you feel about Harry Potter?’ Now, retroactively looking at that statement, do you think that was the best way to phrase that?”
“No, I feel like an idiot,” the student said with a laugh.