Racism in the Clave

It is difficult to exactly talk of racism in the Shadow World. Indeed, the difference between Nephilim and Shadow Kinds is more on the scale of species than ethnicity. We will however be using racism as a catch-all term.

The ideology underlying racism in the Shadow World often relies on the idea that Shadow Kinds - or Downworlders - are lesser than Nephilim, on the basis that their species are based on Demon blood (Warlocks, Seelies) or Demonic magic (Werewolves, Vampires). The demonic aspect of their species would be making them inherently evil, according to Nephilim racist ideology.

Historical examples of the institutional racism of the Clave include the Hunts and the Spoils.

Racist ideology can manifest in many aspects of social life. Racism can be present in social actions, practices, or political systems that support the expression of prejudice or aversion in discriminatory practices or laws. Associated social actions may include xenophobia, otherness, hierarchical ranking, supremacism, and related social phenomena.

## **Legal Decisions on anti-demon-blooded racism**

For long, Shadow Kinds were not protected in any way by the Law of the Covenant, the Law that Nephilim followed and inforced.

The very first legal document mapping out the regulations for Nephilim-Shadow Kinds relations and affording protection to the Shadow Kinds was the **European Downworlder Treaty**. It was an agreement between Nephilim and Shadow Kinds. It was signed at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, by then Consul Shimizu-Tokugawa Katsugoro. It is often regarded as the treaty that opened the way for the Accords.

**The Accords** are peace negotiations signed between the Downworlders and the Clave. The Accords act as amendments to the Covenant agreed to be taken as the law of the land by all of the Shadow World.

The Accords are revised and signed every fifteen years by representatives of the Nephilim and all Downworlder groups, in the Accords Hall in Alicante. They were initiallty signed in 1878, and every new version helped outlawing practices such as Hunts, Spoils, and Exposure.

## **Aspects**

#### **Governmental Discrimination**

* Downworlders are not allowed to vote in assemblies deciding of the laws of the Shadow World.
* Downworlders are not allowed a justice system outside of the Nephilim system.
* Downworlder governments are not recognized by the Clave.

#### **Racist Practices**

* **Uprooting**, the practice of having Downworlder children (mostly Warlocks) be given to the City of Bones and raised for a couple of years as wards of the Silent Brothers. This practive is not current anymore but is still legal.
* **Hunts**, the practice of hunting Downworlders for sport and taking trophies from them before killing them (illegal).
* **Spoils**, the practice of taking Downworlders’ belongings as punishment for alleged or real crimes (illegal).
* Use of Downworlder costumes for festivities or mundane holidays (fake Seelie ears, fake warlock marks, etc).
* Ostracization of half-Seelie Shadowhunters.

#### **Racist Stereotypes**

* Seelies are seen as untrustworthy, for their tendency to use double-meaning and trick phrases to avoid saying the truth.
* Werewolves are considered animals because they turn into wolves.
* Vampires are seen as parasites on the same level as spiders, bats, or other night-dwelling creatures.
* Warlocks are often considered promiscuous and greedy. Due to their long lives, Warlocks are known to have many lovers, and that goes against the Nephilim "Shadowhunters only love once" culture. Warlocks are also seen as money-loving and greedy for asking for payment in exchange for services.
* The supposed "slave to their impulses" nature of Shadow Kinds is often used as an argument in the claim they are a lesser people than Nephilim and their "rational" culture.
* As a whole, demon blood or demon characteristics are used to put all Shadow Kinds on par with demons.

#### **Race Fetishism**

Downworlders can be seen as exotic and "spicy", and some Shadowhunters develop a fetish around the supposed exotic nature of Downworlders.

* Werewolves have the reputation of being especially "animalistic" and "rough" lovers.
* Warlocks are seen as willing to do almost any sexual act as long as the Shadowhunter is willing to pay for it.
* Seelies have the reputation to be somewhat submissive and worshipping of Shadowhunters.
* Vampires are rarely lovers of Shadowhunters because there is a stigma of "grossness" about dating/having sex with a vampire.