does it make anyone else uncomfortable that they changed her entire race because she went out with Ron in their sixth year

isn’t that what happened???

they changed a character’s entire race because she as a character became important and relevant for a short amount of time

Wow.

Umm, no. They did not change her entire race simply because she dated Ron. Actually think about it. Up until the sixth book, she was a background character that was only ever mentioned in passing, so she wasn’t given a physical description. Then in the sixth book, Lavender was finally described, as having ‘pale skin and dirty blonde hair’. Well, the first few Harry Potter movies came out before the Half-Blood Prince book did, so the casting directors did what they wanted with the character. 

Another thing, the Lavender Brown from the first few movies only appeared in the first few movies. Lavender didn’t even appear in the 4th and 5th movies, because again, she was a background character, and wasn’t vital to the story. The only reason her race was changed was because a physical description was finally in the books, and it didn’t fit what the directors had, so they had to recast her. It was not because she dated Ron.

Somebody spread this shit because I refuse to have this turn into some social justice bullshit

Excuse me but this is in fact ‘some social justice bullshit’. 

Lavender Brown is never described physically in the books. Never. The “pale skin and dirty blonde hair” quote up there? That’s Luna Lovegood. Lavender is completely racially ambiguous. We don’t even know if she’s pretty or not.

HBP was released in 2005, with the film coming out in 2009. That means that when Lavender’s role developed from “background character” to “love interest”, they had just released the “Goblet of Fire” film. So Lavender Brown, as a character, had been cast and filmed already. But all of a sudden, now that she was going to have a bigger role, they re-cast her. 

I think it would be naive and insulting to pretend race doesn’t play into this. As the people above said, Lavender’s original role is tiny - in fact, there’s no reason to know that she’s Lavender Brown at all. They ought to have just credited her as “Gryffindor Girl” or something if they didn’t want to cause trouble, but no. She was actually played by two different actresses , Kathleen Cauley and Jennifer Smith. Then she disappears in the fourth film and re-emerges as a totally new person.

It’s also worth noting that even if Lavender HAD been physically described in the books, that argument is still 0/10. Daniel Radcliffe doesn’t have green eyes. Luna Lovegood’s “dirty blonde” hair became platinum blonde. Hermione didn’t have buck teeth or frizz. Voldemort didn’t have red eyes. The films do NOT offer 100% fidelity to the “looks” of the characters in the books, so by implying that THIS ONE RE-CAST IN PARTICULAR was above that, you are actually saying “race is so important because it is unimaginable Ron would date a black girl.” 

"But maybe the white girl was just a better actress!" 

Yeah, maybe. Maybe the film industry as whole, generally speaking, continues to refuse to represent POC - particularly WOC - in roles other than “background”.