On October 23rd, 2015, Rowling announced the production of a play based on a new story, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, written by Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany. The play will be shown in London’s West End on July 2016.

The Harry Potter series is a beloved book series and movie series that is loved by kids as well as adults. The book series sold more than 450 million copies, and the movies made approximately seven billion dollars according to ABC news. J.K. Rowling, the brains behind the legendary adventure of Harry Potter has released the seven books of the original series, and then later three supplements to the series (Quidditch Through the Ages, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.), as well as the record breaking eight films.

On December 21st, 2015, J.K. Rowling announced the actors who will playing Ron, Harry and Hermione in the upcoming play. After the announcement, Twitter users tweeted millions of tweets and news reporters began writing on the controversy of the actress who will be playing Hermione- Noma Dumezweni, an African-American actress who has received an award for best supporting actress, beating Benedict Cumberbatch. Dumezweni has been receiving criticism because of the fact that she “looks nothing like Hermione.”

Many fans of J.K. Rowling stood behind her and mentioned that in the books J.K. Rowling never specified the race and skin color of the character, she only gave Hermione the characteristics of “brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever,” which Noma Dumezweni certainly has. Not only that but, J.K. Rowling was quick in shutting down the critics by simply tweeting, “Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair, and very clever.” Rowling loves black Hermione.” Along with an attached photo of some cartoons of Dumezweni in situations the Hermione was in during the books.

J.K. Rowling is very supportive of having a black actress play the part of Hermione, and Rowling’s opinion is basically the only important one in this situation. Not only does Rowling approves of Dumezweni playing Hermione, but so does Emma Watson, the actress that played her in the movies.
The arguments that critics are making are quite ridiculous because having a black actress play Hermione will, contrary to popular belief, only advance society. It will bring a new meaning and attitude towards the play and well-known story. It will also provide the viewers with a different side of Hermione and even enhance her character.

J.K. Rowling has always been known to be accepting of people with all races and religions, so having critics attempt to criticize her for choosing a black actress is unreasonable considering she wrote the story and can choose whomever she wants to play the part of the character she created. She has also always been one to improve everything she does, from her books to her attitude. In addition, she is always staying on top of her game, therefore giving her the right to choose any actress she wants to play the part of Hermione Granger; especially since she is very involved in the production and casting of the play.

With all this in mind, society should advance in their beliefs of having a black actress playing a, may I add, never specified, British character, and accept Noma Dumezweni because the decision has already been made and there is no going back. Not only that, but if we take a step back, we can observe that most of the critics against the idea of an African-American Hermione are, in fact, white Americans, which just comes to show that the critics are arguing about a racial issue that is definitely beyond the magical world of Harry Potter.