Here's Rowling's point on "half-bloods." Wizards may do magic, but prejudice does not magically disappear in their society. Racist prejudice bedevils both wizard and human society. Rowling's use of the term "half-blood" to vividly evoke the damaging effects of racial prejudice in the life of some of her key characters must be highlighted, especially this week. This is the same week where the American people have been treated to the unseemly spectacle of conservative politicians using "racism" as a club to beat up Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic American woman nominated to the United States Supreme Court. These attacks on her, as illustrated but not limited to Senator Sessions' remarks, illustrate that her questioners have no insight into their own racial formation, and deformation, in a white-dominant American society.
I highly recommend that several of these Senators go see the Harry Potter film--and better yet, read the books where the racial prejudice by some in the wizarding community is horribly illustrated. "Generations of purebloods, wizards all--more than you can say, I don't doubt...a filthy, dirt-veined Muggle," says a Wizard racist whose negative attitudes toward racial pluralism have fatal and near fatal consequences for both Wizards and Muggles alike in the film and in the book.
The coming of age theme would not hurt the Senators either. My first reaction to seeing these wonderful young people and how they have grown from film to film was "wow!" They're gorgeous. And then there's dating. There's "snogging" (kissing) and there is a growing maturity about their responsibilities as young adults in what is effectively a war--and like young people living with war in Iraq or Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world, they see more death than anyone, especially a young person, should have to experience. Source: The Washington Post
After reading this, I had to ask my son if he saw the racism that the author is referring to? Of course, he said no, but I do see the point Ms. Thistlethwaite is making. We have a responsibility to eradicate our racial prejudices and misconceptions about people because of their ethnic or racial background. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done. Can we go back to the days when when we went to the movies, we did that just for fun and not worry about being politically correct? So, my parting question to you is do you think J. K. Rowling is sending a message of racial intolerance in her books?
My oldest son went to the midnight release of the latest Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," with his friends and he gave it four out of five stars. I have never been one to join the Harry Potter craze and I certainly never viewed it through racial lens. I came across an article in the Washington Post, written by Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite and entitled "Harry Potter: Wizards and Racism," that focuses on the racial prejudices in the film. Ms. Thistlethwaite states that the use of "Half-Blood" in the title of the film/book specifically refers to racial mixing. She states that in Wizard society (like in human society), persons of mixed race heritage are often the subject of explicit racist prejudice. "Mud-bloods!" is another term for those who share the "blood" of both wizards and Muggles (humans). 
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