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Racism

2020-07-31T09:40:32Z

ThePatchGuy: Contextualising "Dark" and "Light"

{{sources}}
{{quote|For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own.|David Ibata, ''Chicago Tribune''<ref>http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story</ref>}}

[[File:The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Haradrim.jpg|thumb|225px|''[[Haradrim]]'' from [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]]]
[[Image:John Howe - Easterlings.jpg|thumb|''Easterlings'' by [[John Howe]]]]

Some fans and critics of Tolkien's works could observe several ambiguously '''Racist and race-based elements'''; these go further into stereotyping or the symbolism of good versus evil in the Tolkien's [[Legendarium]]. Though the latter is a more canonically valid and established area of study, as early as the first edition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' the topic of 'race' has been discussed, including by [[C.S. Lewis]].{{fact}}

In the [[The Lord of the Rings Foreword|Foreword]] to the revised edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself. Furthermore, according to his own claims, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and apartheid and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below). Tolkien can therefore be described as an author whose messages, allegories (or lack-thereof), and agendas as being set aside from the social-political domain and entirely focused within a fantasy-fiction context.

[[Christine Chism]] mentions the issue of racism in the ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', where she distinguishes accusations as falling into three categories: intentional racism, unconscious [[Wikipedia:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] bias, and an evolution from latent racism in Tolkien's early work to a conscious rejection of racist tendencies in his late work.{{fact}}

[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] has done much to perpetuate recent popular interest in, as well as criticism of Tolkien's writings.{{fact}}

==Indications==

===Orcs===
The mostly white Free Peoples of Middle-Earth doing battle with the hordes of beast-like orcs is seen by some as an indication of racism.{{fact}}

Of the orcs, the [[Uruk-Hai]] are described as "black <ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book two chapter 5: ''"some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor"'' and appendix A: ''"In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor"''</ref> and a smaller orc, a tracker, is described as "black-skinned".<ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book six chapter 2 ''"it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind."''</ref> All orcs are often described as "slant-eyed" and the Uruk-Hai at least refer to the Rohirrim as 'white skins.' In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as ''"...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."''{{fact}}

While Tolkien's statement comparing Orcs to the "Mongol-types" may be interpreted as racist, he does put a disclaimer, "(to Europeans,)" before "least lovely", at least recognizing Western cultural bias and also pointing out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". It is worth noting that some Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term scimitar, which is historically associated with the Middle-East).{{fact}}

Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.{{fact}}

===Light vs. Dark===
Some critics have declared that there is racism in Tolkien's works through his use of the words such as "light" and "white" vs. "dark" or "black". In 2002, John Yatt in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "White men are good, 'dark' men are bad, orcs are worst of all."The Guardian (2 December 2002)</ref>.{{fact}} Other critics such as [[Tom Shippey]] and [[Michael D.C. Drout]] disagree with such clear-cut generalizations of Tolkien's "white" and "dark" men into good and bad.

The whole of Tolkien's Legendarium contains a conflict between "light" (The Trees, the [[Silmarils]]) and "darkness" (the literal absence of light). Morgoth's standard was ''"sable unblazoned"'' (that is, plain black). ''"Mordor"'' means "black land" in Sindarin. If one were to analyse this through a racial lense, the ongoing clash may be interpreted as containing racial symbolism of light skinned versus dark skinned peoples, although Eol, father of Maeglin was known as the Dark Elf, and the Moriquendi were called the Elves of Darkness. Both these terms refer to remaining outside the light of the two trees, not to skin tone. The [[Black Númenóreans]] are likewise named because of the color of their allegiance to Sauron and their heraldry, not their skin tone. Considering this, Tolkien's assignment of Good and Evil to "light" and "dark" cannot simply be dismissed as racial undertones within the broader narrative.

But white is not associated only with Good. [[Saruman]] the White has the [[White Hand]] as his symbol. Similarly black is not only associated with evil as Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth]], three Númenórean ships are followed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the ''Black Enemy'') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.

===Evil Men===
One potentially racist element in Middle-Earth is that the majority of the men who serve Sauron are the dark-skinned peoples of the [[Easterlings (First Age)|Easterling]]s and [[Southrons]]. They come from the South and East of Middle-Earth, corresponding with Asia and Africa in the loose connection between Middle-Earth geography and that of the real world.
The Easterlings are aligned with Morgoth or Sauron with the exception of Bór's folk. They are described as being of fairly dark skin complexion, swarthy and exceedingly cruel. The Southrons (or Haradrim) are described as black-skinned, cruel and evil, and are apparently at least inspired by Indian cultures with traits such as fighting on [[Mumakil]]-back.

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like [[Freca]] and [[Wulf]], who are related to the [[Dunlendings]], are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark). Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, and this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry.

While the Easterlings and the Haradrim are dark-skinned people in the service of the Enemy, the [[Woses]] are primitive, small, and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghan-buri-Ghan only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in ''The Return of the King''). While Tolkien does not mention their skin colour, they were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative explicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as ''Edain'', or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.

However, not all enemies are non-white. Noteworthy examples are Saruman, [[Gríma]], [[Gollum]], and at least two of the [[Nazgûl]]. Also [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] and the [[ruffians]] are white-skinned characters who ravage and take over [[the Shire]]. Indeed, while during the timeframe of Lord of the Rings those enslaved and serving Sauron are darker skinned people from the South and East, during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy.

Tolkien also wrote that the [[Blue Wizards]], who do not appear in '''The Lord of the Rings'' narrative, were sent into the South and East lands to spread dissent and resistance against Sauron. While he wrote on one occasion (as given in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'') that they failed, on another occasion (as given in ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]'') he wrote that they were successful, making Sauron's hold on these lands throughout the centuries significantly weaker than it should have been. This prevented Sauron from overwhelming the West with his armies and ultimately contributed to his defeat in the War of the Ring. This means that Southrons and Easterlings resisting Sauron were meant to exist, only that their stories remain untold.

===Racism in Middle-earth===
Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the [[Woses]]. The friendship between [[Legolas]] and [[Gimli]] is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences. When [[Gimli]] takes a strand of [[Galadriel]]'s hair, he is described as having ''"look[ed] into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding."''

It is notable that there is apparently racism within the ranks of Orcs as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called ''snaga'' (slave).

The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them. They are not without prejudice, however, and Gandalf is shown reprimanding Frodo for his comments on [[Barliman Butterbur]].

The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the [[Kin-strife]]), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir]] while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar (King of Gondor)|Eldacar]].

===Dwarves as Jews===

Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
{{quote|"The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."|J.R.R. Tolkien<ref>http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm</ref>}}
One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language [[Khuzdul]] to Semitic languages. In another letter, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[Letter 176]])

Throughout the books, Tolkien paints a mostly positive picture of the dwarves ([[Gimli]] of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jewish people.

However, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings]]. Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. It is also possible to draw a connection between the bearded Dwarves and the beards of Orthodox Jews.

===Númenóreans===

Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people]] who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor. It should be also noted that according to Theosophy, Ariosophy and Nazism<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Occultism</ref>, the Aryan race is supposedly descended from [[Atlantis]].<ref>Alfred Rosenberg, [[Wikipedia:The_Myth_of_the_Twentieth_Century|The Myth of the Twentieth Century]]</ref>

Although gifted, many of Tolkien's Númenóreans are evil. In the Appendices to the Return of the King, Númenórean fleets sail to Middle Earth, where they conquer and subjugate native peoples in what may be a commentary on European imperialism. The Númenóreans ultimately cause their own downfall by following the teachings of Morgoth, conducting human sacrifices, and making war on Valinor. At least three of the Nazgûl are Númenóreans.

==Counterindications==
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism leveled at ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.

*The symbolism of light as good and dark as evil is a prehistoric dichotomy present in a great many cultures, Western and otherwise. It is also a part of Christianity (John 8:12 Jesus Christ said, "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."). Variations such as the Manicheeist heresy and further the ancient religion of Persia - Zoroastrianism.

*Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote ''The Lord of the Rings'' according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.

*Tolkien only made precise ''geographic'' correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, [[Hobbiton]] was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but ''was not actually'' rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the ''peoples'' concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. ''The Silmarillion'' presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.

*Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband]]. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west).

*The white but darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain]] (through the [[House of Haleth]]), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dunedain of Numenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dunedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.

*In the War of the Ring, the human enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Numenoreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.

*Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in ''The Lord of the Rings''; however the Easterlings of ''The Silmarillion'' are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings.

*Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum]]), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical sub-Saharan African features.

*All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dunedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dunedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in [[Atlantis]], since Numenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to Plato's Atlantis. The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.

*Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, [[Samwise Gamgee]] represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.

*There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings, save perhaps the [[Vanyar]]. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Numenoreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.

==''Lord of the Rings'' and Fascism==

In Italy, ''Lord of the Rings'' is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting.<ref>http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm</ref> According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet], [[Wikipedia:Alleanza Nazionale|Alleanza Nazionale]], a right-oriented Italian political party, had taken a picture from ''Fellowship of the Ring'' movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Wikipedia:Gianfranco Fini|Gianfranco Fini]].<ref>http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604</ref>

Tolkien's works have also been embraced by self-admitted racists such as the British National Party.<ref>The Sunday Times - [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article804465.ece The BNP has declared Lord of the Rings essential reading. They’re not the only extremists to get the wrong idea]</ref>

However, Tolkien himself stated in a letter to his son in 1943 that ''My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)-or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy.'' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) [https://rodbenson.com/2011/08/20/tolkien-on-anarchism/]. Thus this makes any notion of Tolkien being fascist defunct.

==Relevant Passages from the text==
{{quote|It is not unlikely that they <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Orcs]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them"|''[[The Hobbit]]'', "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"}}

{{quote|It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.|''[[The Two Towers]]'', "[[Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit]]"}}

==Tolkien on Racism==
{{quote|I must say that the enclosed letter from Rutten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any ''Bestätigung'' (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.|[[Letter 29]] — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin}}

{{quote|Thank you for your letter... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ''arisch''. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone [sic] of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.|[[Letter 30]] (Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)}}

{{quote|There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done.|J.R.R. Tolkien — September 23, 1944}}

{{quote|I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.|From a [[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford]] in [[1959]]}}

{{quote|As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long.|[[Letter 61]] — Written to Christopher Tolkien who was stationed in South Africa during World War II}}

{{quote|Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[Letter 45]]}}

==External links==

*[http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/11/29/is-it-true-there-is-racism-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/ Is It True There is Racism in The Lord of the Rings?] by [[Michael Martinez]]
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist Portion of a Tolkien FAQ attempting to give an answer to the matter]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm Critique of the Lord of the Rings as an 'epic rooted in racism' by Dr Shapiro]
*[http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-030112epringsrace,0,4574891.story 'Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory] by Chicago Tribune
{{references}}
[[Category:Debates]]
[[category:Tolkien criticism]]

Racism

2020-07-31T09:36:38Z

ThePatchGuy: No citation.

{{sources}}
{{quote|For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own.|David Ibata, ''Chicago Tribune''<ref>http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story</ref>}}

[[File:The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Haradrim.jpg|thumb|225px|''[[Haradrim]]'' from [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]]]
[[Image:John Howe - Easterlings.jpg|thumb|''Easterlings'' by [[John Howe]]]]

Some fans and critics of Tolkien's works could observe several ambiguously '''Racist and race-based elements'''; these go further into stereotyping or the symbolism of good versus evil in the Tolkien's [[Legendarium]]. Though the latter is a more canonically valid and established area of study, as early as the first edition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' the topic of 'race' has been discussed, including by [[C.S. Lewis]].{{fact}}

In the [[The Lord of the Rings Foreword|Foreword]] to the revised edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself. Furthermore, according to his own claims, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and apartheid and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below). Tolkien can therefore be described as an author whose messages, allegories (or lack-thereof), and agendas as being set aside from the social-political domain and entirely focused within a fantasy-fiction context.

[[Christine Chism]] mentions the issue of racism in the ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', where she distinguishes accusations as falling into three categories: intentional racism, unconscious [[Wikipedia:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] bias, and an evolution from latent racism in Tolkien's early work to a conscious rejection of racist tendencies in his late work.{{fact}}

[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] has done much to perpetuate recent popular interest in, as well as criticism of Tolkien's writings.{{fact}}

==Indications==

===Orcs===
The mostly white Free Peoples of Middle-Earth doing battle with the hordes of beast-like orcs is seen by some as an indication of racism.{{fact}}

Of the orcs, the [[Uruk-Hai]] are described as "black <ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book two chapter 5: ''"some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor"'' and appendix A: ''"In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor"''</ref> and a smaller orc, a tracker, is described as "black-skinned".<ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book six chapter 2 ''"it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind."''</ref> All orcs are often described as "slant-eyed" and the Uruk-Hai at least refer to the Rohirrim as 'white skins.' In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as ''"...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."''{{fact}}

While Tolkien's statement comparing Orcs to the "Mongol-types" may be interpreted as racist, he does put a disclaimer, "(to Europeans,)" before "least lovely", at least recognizing Western cultural bias and also pointing out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". It is worth noting that some Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term scimitar, which is historically associated with the Middle-East).{{fact}}

Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.{{fact}}

===Light vs. Dark===
Some critics have declared that there is racism in Tolkien's works through his use of the words such as "light" and "white" vs. "dark" or "black". In 2002, John Yatt in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "White men are good, 'dark' men are bad, orcs are worst of all."The Guardian (2 December 2002)</ref>.{{fact}} Other critics such as [[Tom Shippey]] and [[Michael D.C. Drout]] disagree with such clear-cut generalizations of Tolkien's "white" and "dark" men into good and bad.

The whole of Tolkien's Legendarium contains a conflict between ''literal'' light (The Trees, the [[Silmarils]]) and darkness (the literal absence of light). Morgoth's standard was ''"sable unblazoned"'' (that is, plain black). ''"Mordor"'' means "black land" in Sindarin. This ongoing clash may be interpreted as containing racial symbolism of light skinned versus dark skinned peoples, although Eol, father of Maeglin was known as the Dark Elf, and the Moriquendi were called the Elves of Darkness, although both these terms refer to remaining outside the light of the two trees, not to skin tone. The [[Black Númenóreans]] are likewise named because of the color of their allegiance to Sauron and their heraldry, not their skin tone.

But white is not associated only with Good. [[Saruman]] the White has the [[White Hand]] as his symbol. Similarly black is not only associated with evil as Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth]], three Númenórean ships are followed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the ''Black Enemy'') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.

===Evil Men===
One potentially racist element in Middle-Earth is that the majority of the men who serve Sauron are the dark-skinned peoples of the [[Easterlings (First Age)|Easterling]]s and [[Southrons]]. They come from the South and East of Middle-Earth, corresponding with Asia and Africa in the loose connection between Middle-Earth geography and that of the real world.
The Easterlings are aligned with Morgoth or Sauron with the exception of Bór's folk. They are described as being of fairly dark skin complexion, swarthy and exceedingly cruel. The Southrons (or Haradrim) are described as black-skinned, cruel and evil, and are apparently at least inspired by Indian cultures with traits such as fighting on [[Mumakil]]-back.

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like [[Freca]] and [[Wulf]], who are related to the [[Dunlendings]], are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark). Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, and this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry.

While the Easterlings and the Haradrim are dark-skinned people in the service of the Enemy, the [[Woses]] are primitive, small, and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghan-buri-Ghan only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in ''The Return of the King''). While Tolkien does not mention their skin colour, they were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative explicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as ''Edain'', or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.

However, not all enemies are non-white. Noteworthy examples are Saruman, [[Gríma]], [[Gollum]], and at least two of the [[Nazgûl]]. Also [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] and the [[ruffians]] are white-skinned characters who ravage and take over [[the Shire]]. Indeed, while during the timeframe of Lord of the Rings those enslaved and serving Sauron are darker skinned people from the South and East, during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy.

Tolkien also wrote that the [[Blue Wizards]], who do not appear in '''The Lord of the Rings'' narrative, were sent into the South and East lands to spread dissent and resistance against Sauron. While he wrote on one occasion (as given in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'') that they failed, on another occasion (as given in ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]'') he wrote that they were successful, making Sauron's hold on these lands throughout the centuries significantly weaker than it should have been. This prevented Sauron from overwhelming the West with his armies and ultimately contributed to his defeat in the War of the Ring. This means that Southrons and Easterlings resisting Sauron were meant to exist, only that their stories remain untold.

===Racism in Middle-earth===
Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the [[Woses]]. The friendship between [[Legolas]] and [[Gimli]] is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences. When [[Gimli]] takes a strand of [[Galadriel]]'s hair, he is described as having ''"look[ed] into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding."''

It is notable that there is apparently racism within the ranks of Orcs as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called ''snaga'' (slave).

The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them. They are not without prejudice, however, and Gandalf is shown reprimanding Frodo for his comments on [[Barliman Butterbur]].

The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the [[Kin-strife]]), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir]] while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar (King of Gondor)|Eldacar]].

===Dwarves as Jews===

Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
{{quote|"The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."|J.R.R. Tolkien<ref>http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm</ref>}}
One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language [[Khuzdul]] to Semitic languages. In another letter, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[Letter 176]])

Throughout the books, Tolkien paints a mostly positive picture of the dwarves ([[Gimli]] of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jewish people.

However, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings]]. Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. It is also possible to draw a connection between the bearded Dwarves and the beards of Orthodox Jews.

===Númenóreans===

Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people]] who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor. It should be also noted that according to Theosophy, Ariosophy and Nazism<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Occultism</ref>, the Aryan race is supposedly descended from [[Atlantis]].<ref>Alfred Rosenberg, [[Wikipedia:The_Myth_of_the_Twentieth_Century|The Myth of the Twentieth Century]]</ref>

Although gifted, many of Tolkien's Númenóreans are evil. In the Appendices to the Return of the King, Númenórean fleets sail to Middle Earth, where they conquer and subjugate native peoples in what may be a commentary on European imperialism. The Númenóreans ultimately cause their own downfall by following the teachings of Morgoth, conducting human sacrifices, and making war on Valinor. At least three of the Nazgûl are Númenóreans.

==Counterindications==
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism leveled at ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.

*The symbolism of light as good and dark as evil is a prehistoric dichotomy present in a great many cultures, Western and otherwise. It is also a part of Christianity (John 8:12 Jesus Christ said, "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."). Variations such as the Manicheeist heresy and further the ancient religion of Persia - Zoroastrianism.

*Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote ''The Lord of the Rings'' according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.

*Tolkien only made precise ''geographic'' correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, [[Hobbiton]] was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but ''was not actually'' rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the ''peoples'' concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. ''The Silmarillion'' presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.

*Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband]]. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west).

*The white but darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain]] (through the [[House of Haleth]]), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dunedain of Numenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dunedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.

*In the War of the Ring, the human enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Numenoreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.

*Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in ''The Lord of the Rings''; however the Easterlings of ''The Silmarillion'' are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings.

*Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum]]), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical sub-Saharan African features.

*All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dunedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dunedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in [[Atlantis]], since Numenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to Plato's Atlantis. The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.

*Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, [[Samwise Gamgee]] represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.

*There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings, save perhaps the [[Vanyar]]. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Numenoreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.

==''Lord of the Rings'' and Fascism==

In Italy, ''Lord of the Rings'' is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting.<ref>http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm</ref> According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet], [[Wikipedia:Alleanza Nazionale|Alleanza Nazionale]], a right-oriented Italian political party, had taken a picture from ''Fellowship of the Ring'' movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Wikipedia:Gianfranco Fini|Gianfranco Fini]].<ref>http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604</ref>

Tolkien's works have also been embraced by self-admitted racists such as the British National Party.<ref>The Sunday Times - [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article804465.ece The BNP has declared Lord of the Rings essential reading. They’re not the only extremists to get the wrong idea]</ref>

However, Tolkien himself stated in a letter to his son in 1943 that ''My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)-or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy.'' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) [https://rodbenson.com/2011/08/20/tolkien-on-anarchism/]. Thus this makes any notion of Tolkien being fascist defunct.

==Relevant Passages from the text==
{{quote|It is not unlikely that they <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Orcs]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them"|''[[The Hobbit]]'', "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"}}

{{quote|It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.|''[[The Two Towers]]'', "[[Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit]]"}}

==Tolkien on Racism==
{{quote|I must say that the enclosed letter from Rutten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any ''Bestätigung'' (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.|[[Letter 29]] — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin}}

{{quote|Thank you for your letter... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ''arisch''. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone [sic] of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.|[[Letter 30]] (Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)}}

{{quote|There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done.|J.R.R. Tolkien — September 23, 1944}}

{{quote|I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.|From a [[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford]] in [[1959]]}}

{{quote|As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long.|[[Letter 61]] — Written to Christopher Tolkien who was stationed in South Africa during World War II}}

{{quote|Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[Letter 45]]}}

==External links==

*[http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/11/29/is-it-true-there-is-racism-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/ Is It True There is Racism in The Lord of the Rings?] by [[Michael Martinez]]
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist Portion of a Tolkien FAQ attempting to give an answer to the matter]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm Critique of the Lord of the Rings as an 'epic rooted in racism' by Dr Shapiro]
*[http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-030112epringsrace,0,4574891.story 'Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory] by Chicago Tribune
{{references}}
[[Category:Debates]]
[[category:Tolkien criticism]]

Racism

2020-07-31T09:34:26Z

ThePatchGuy: THIS IS A MAJOR EDIT. Grammatical corrections as well as demands of citation - specifically evidence for "Mongol-types". There is also language interpreted as biased that has been edited to be passive and non-partisan.

{{sources}}
{{quote|For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own.|David Ibata, ''Chicago Tribune''<ref>http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story</ref>}}

[[File:The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Haradrim.jpg|thumb|225px|''[[Haradrim]]'' from [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]]]
[[Image:John Howe - Easterlings.jpg|thumb|''Easterlings'' by [[John Howe]]]]

Some fans and critics of Tolkien's works could observe several ambiguously '''Racist and race-based elements'''; these go further into stereotyping or the symbolism of good versus evil in the Tolkien's [[Legendarium]]. Though the latter is a more canonically valid and established area of study, as early as the first edition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' the topic of 'race' has been discussed, including by [[C.S. Lewis]].{{fact}}

In the [[The Lord of the Rings Foreword|Foreword]] to the revised edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself. Furthermore, according to his own claims, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and apartheid and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below). Tolkien can therefore be described as an author whose messages, allegories (or lack-thereof), and agendas as being set aside from the social-political domain and entirely focused within a fantasy-fiction context.

[[Christine Chism]] mentions the issue of racism in the ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', where she distinguishes accusations as falling into three categories: intentional racism, unconscious [[Wikipedia:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] bias, and an evolution from latent racism in Tolkien's early work to a conscious rejection of racist tendencies in his late work.{{fact}}

[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] has done much to perpetuate recent popular interest in, as well as criticism of Tolkien's writings.{{fact}}

==Indications==

===Orcs===
The mostly white Free Peoples of Middle-Earth doing battle with the hordes of beast-like orcs is seen by some as an indication of racism.{{fact}}

Of the orcs, the [[Uruk-Hai]] are described as "black <ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book two chapter 5: ''"some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor"'' and appendix A: ''"In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor"''</ref> and a smaller orc, a tracker, is described as "black-skinned".<ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book six chapter 2 ''"it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind."''</ref> All orcs are often described as "slant-eyed" and the Uruk-Hai at least refer to the Rohirrim as 'white skins.' In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as ''"...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."''{{fact}}

While Tolkien's statement comparing Orcs to the "Mongol-types" may be interpreted as racist, he does put a disclaimer, "(to Europeans,)" before "least lovely", at least recognizing Western cultural bias and also pointing out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". It is worth noting that some Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term scimitar, which is historically associated with the Middle-East).{{fact}}

Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.{{fact}}

===Light vs. Dark===
Some critics have declared that there is racism in Tolkien's works through his use of the words such as "light" and "white" vs. "dark" or "black". In 2002, John Yatt in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "White men are good, 'dark' men are bad, orcs are worst of all."<ref>The Guardian (2 December 2002)</ref>. Other critics such as [[Tom Shippey]] and [[Michael D.C. Drout]] disagree with such clear-cut generalizations of Tolkien's "white" and "dark" men into good and bad.

The whole of Tolkien's Legendarium contains a conflict between ''literal'' light (The Trees, the [[Silmarils]]) and darkness (the literal absence of light). Morgoth's standard was ''"sable unblazoned"'' (that is, plain black). ''"Mordor"'' means "black land" in Sindarin. This ongoing clash may be interpreted as containing racial symbolism of light skinned versus dark skinned peoples, although Eol, father of Maeglin was known as the Dark Elf, and the Moriquendi were called the Elves of Darkness, although both these terms refer to remaining outside the light of the two trees, not to skin tone. The [[Black Númenóreans]] are likewise named because of the color of their allegiance to Sauron and their heraldry, not their skin tone.

But white is not associated only with Good. [[Saruman]] the White has the [[White Hand]] as his symbol. Similarly black is not only associated with evil as Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth]], three Númenórean ships are followed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the ''Black Enemy'') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.

===Evil Men===
One potentially racist element in Middle-Earth is that the majority of the men who serve Sauron are the dark-skinned peoples of the [[Easterlings (First Age)|Easterling]]s and [[Southrons]]. They come from the South and East of Middle-Earth, corresponding with Asia and Africa in the loose connection between Middle-Earth geography and that of the real world.
The Easterlings are aligned with Morgoth or Sauron with the exception of Bór's folk. They are described as being of fairly dark skin complexion, swarthy and exceedingly cruel. The Southrons (or Haradrim) are described as black-skinned, cruel and evil, and are apparently at least inspired by Indian cultures with traits such as fighting on [[Mumakil]]-back.

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like [[Freca]] and [[Wulf]], who are related to the [[Dunlendings]], are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark). Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, and this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry.

While the Easterlings and the Haradrim are dark-skinned people in the service of the Enemy, the [[Woses]] are primitive, small, and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghan-buri-Ghan only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in ''The Return of the King''). While Tolkien does not mention their skin colour, they were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative explicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as ''Edain'', or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.

However, not all enemies are non-white. Noteworthy examples are Saruman, [[Gríma]], [[Gollum]], and at least two of the [[Nazgûl]]. Also [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] and the [[ruffians]] are white-skinned characters who ravage and take over [[the Shire]]. Indeed, while during the timeframe of Lord of the Rings those enslaved and serving Sauron are darker skinned people from the South and East, during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy.

Tolkien also wrote that the [[Blue Wizards]], who do not appear in '''The Lord of the Rings'' narrative, were sent into the South and East lands to spread dissent and resistance against Sauron. While he wrote on one occasion (as given in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'') that they failed, on another occasion (as given in ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]'') he wrote that they were successful, making Sauron's hold on these lands throughout the centuries significantly weaker than it should have been. This prevented Sauron from overwhelming the West with his armies and ultimately contributed to his defeat in the War of the Ring. This means that Southrons and Easterlings resisting Sauron were meant to exist, only that their stories remain untold.

===Racism in Middle-earth===
Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the [[Woses]]. The friendship between [[Legolas]] and [[Gimli]] is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences. When [[Gimli]] takes a strand of [[Galadriel]]'s hair, he is described as having ''"look[ed] into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding."''

It is notable that there is apparently racism within the ranks of Orcs as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called ''snaga'' (slave).

The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them. They are not without prejudice, however, and Gandalf is shown reprimanding Frodo for his comments on [[Barliman Butterbur]].

The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the [[Kin-strife]]), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir]] while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar (King of Gondor)|Eldacar]].

===Dwarves as Jews===

Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
{{quote|"The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."|J.R.R. Tolkien<ref>http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm</ref>}}
One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language [[Khuzdul]] to Semitic languages. In another letter, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[Letter 176]])

Throughout the books, Tolkien paints a mostly positive picture of the dwarves ([[Gimli]] of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jewish people.

However, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings]]. Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. It is also possible to draw a connection between the bearded Dwarves and the beards of Orthodox Jews.

===Númenóreans===

Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people]] who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor. It should be also noted that according to Theosophy, Ariosophy and Nazism<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Occultism</ref>, the Aryan race is supposedly descended from [[Atlantis]].<ref>Alfred Rosenberg, [[Wikipedia:The_Myth_of_the_Twentieth_Century|The Myth of the Twentieth Century]]</ref>

Although gifted, many of Tolkien's Númenóreans are evil. In the Appendices to the Return of the King, Númenórean fleets sail to Middle Earth, where they conquer and subjugate native peoples in what may be a commentary on European imperialism. The Númenóreans ultimately cause their own downfall by following the teachings of Morgoth, conducting human sacrifices, and making war on Valinor. At least three of the Nazgûl are Númenóreans.

==Counterindications==
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism leveled at ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.

*The symbolism of light as good and dark as evil is a prehistoric dichotomy present in a great many cultures, Western and otherwise. It is also a part of Christianity (John 8:12 Jesus Christ said, "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."). Variations such as the Manicheeist heresy and further the ancient religion of Persia - Zoroastrianism.

*Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote ''The Lord of the Rings'' according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.

*Tolkien only made precise ''geographic'' correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, [[Hobbiton]] was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but ''was not actually'' rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the ''peoples'' concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. ''The Silmarillion'' presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.

*Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband]]. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west).

*The white but darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain]] (through the [[House of Haleth]]), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dunedain of Numenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dunedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.

*In the War of the Ring, the human enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Numenoreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.

*Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in ''The Lord of the Rings''; however the Easterlings of ''The Silmarillion'' are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings.

*Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum]]), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical sub-Saharan African features.

*All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dunedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dunedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in [[Atlantis]], since Numenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to Plato's Atlantis. The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.

*Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, [[Samwise Gamgee]] represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.

*There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings, save perhaps the [[Vanyar]]. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Numenoreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.

==''Lord of the Rings'' and Fascism==

In Italy, ''Lord of the Rings'' is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting.<ref>http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm</ref> According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet], [[Wikipedia:Alleanza Nazionale|Alleanza Nazionale]], a right-oriented Italian political party, had taken a picture from ''Fellowship of the Ring'' movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Wikipedia:Gianfranco Fini|Gianfranco Fini]].<ref>http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604</ref>

Tolkien's works have also been embraced by self-admitted racists such as the British National Party.<ref>The Sunday Times - [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article804465.ece The BNP has declared Lord of the Rings essential reading. They’re not the only extremists to get the wrong idea]</ref>

However, Tolkien himself stated in a letter to his son in 1943 that ''My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)-or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy.'' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) [https://rodbenson.com/2011/08/20/tolkien-on-anarchism/]. Thus this makes any notion of Tolkien being fascist defunct.

==Relevant Passages from the text==
{{quote|It is not unlikely that they <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Orcs]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them"|''[[The Hobbit]]'', "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"}}

{{quote|It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.|''[[The Two Towers]]'', "[[Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit]]"}}

==Tolkien on Racism==
{{quote|I must say that the enclosed letter from Rutten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any ''Bestätigung'' (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.|[[Letter 29]] — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin}}

{{quote|Thank you for your letter... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ''arisch''. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone [sic] of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.|[[Letter 30]] (Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)}}

{{quote|There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done.|J.R.R. Tolkien — September 23, 1944}}

{{quote|I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.|From a [[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford]] in [[1959]]}}

{{quote|As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long.|[[Letter 61]] — Written to Christopher Tolkien who was stationed in South Africa during World War II}}

{{quote|Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[Letter 45]]}}

==External links==

*[http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/11/29/is-it-true-there-is-racism-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/ Is It True There is Racism in The Lord of the Rings?] by [[Michael Martinez]]
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist Portion of a Tolkien FAQ attempting to give an answer to the matter]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm Critique of the Lord of the Rings as an 'epic rooted in racism' by Dr Shapiro]
*[http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-030112epringsrace,0,4574891.story 'Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory] by Chicago Tribune
{{references}}
[[Category:Debates]]
[[category:Tolkien criticism]]

Racism

2020-07-31T09:29:29Z

ThePatchGuy: Omission of citation that lead to no evidence in cited page.

{{sources}}
{{quote|For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own.|David Ibata, ''Chicago Tribune''<ref>http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story</ref>}}

[[File:The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Haradrim.jpg|thumb|225px|''[[Haradrim]]'' from [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]]]
[[Image:John Howe - Easterlings.jpg|thumb|''Easterlings'' by [[John Howe]]]]

Some fans and critics of Tolkien's works could observe several ambiguously '''Racist and race-based elements'''; these go further into stereotyping or the symbolism of good versus evil in the Tolkien's [[Legendarium]]. Though the latter is a more canonically valid and established area of study, as early as the first edition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' the topic of 'race' has been discussed, including by [[C.S. Lewis]].{{fact}}

In the [[The Lord of the Rings Foreword|Foreword]] to the revised edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself. Furthermore, according to his own claims, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and apartheid and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below). Tolkien can therefore be described as an author whose messages, allegories (or lack-thereof), and agendas as being set aside from the social-political domain and entirely focused within a fantasy-fiction context.

[[Christine Chism]] mentions the issue of racism in the ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', where she distinguishes accusations as falling into three categories: intentional racism, unconscious [[Wikipedia:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] bias, and an evolution from latent racism in Tolkien's early work to a conscious rejection of racist tendencies in his late work.{{fact}}

[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] has done much to perpetuate recent popular interest in, as well as criticism of Tolkien's writings.{{fact}}

==Indications==

===Orcs===
The mostly white Free Peoples of Middle-Earth doing battle with the hordes of beast-like orcs is seen by some as an indication of racism.{{fact}}

Of the orcs, the [[Uruk-Hai]] are described as "black <ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book two chapter 5: ''"some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor"'' and appendix A: ''"In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor"''</ref> and a smaller orc, a tracker, is described as "black-skinned".<ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book six chapter 2 ''"it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind."''</ref> All orcs are often described as "slant-eyed" and the Uruk-Hai at least refer to the Rohirrim as 'white skins.' In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as ''"...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."''

While Tolkien's statement comparing Orcs to the "Mongol-types" is undoubtedly insensitive given today's standards, he does put a disclaimer, "(to Europeans,)" before "least lovely", at least recognizing Western cultural bias and also points out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". It is worth noting that some Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term scimitar, which are historically associated with the Middle-East).

Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.

===Light vs. Dark===
Some critics have declared that there is racism in Tolkien's works through his use of the words such as "light" and "white" vs. "dark" or "black". In 2002, John Yatt in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "White men are good, 'dark' men are bad, orcs are worst of all."<ref>The Guardian (2 December 2002)</ref>. Other critics such as [[Tom Shippey]] and [[Michael D.C. Drout]] disagree with such clear-cut generalizations of Tolkien's "white" and "dark" men into good and bad.

The whole of Tolkien's Legendarium contains a conflict between ''literal'' light (The Trees, the [[Silmarils]]) and darkness (the literal absence of light). Morgoth's standard was ''"sable unblazoned"'' (that is, plain black). ''"Mordor"'' means "black land" in Sindarin. This ongoing clash may be interpreted as containing racial symbolism of light skinned versus dark skinned peoples, although Eol, father of Maeglin was known as the Dark Elf, and the Moriquendi were called the Elves of Darkness, although both these terms refer to remaining outside the light of the two trees, not to skin tone. The [[Black Númenóreans]] are likewise named because of the color of their allegiance to Sauron and their heraldry, not their skin tone.

But white is not associated only with Good. [[Saruman]] the White has the [[White Hand]] as his symbol. Similarly black is not only associated with evil as Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth]], three Númenórean ships are followed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the ''Black Enemy'') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.

===Evil Men===
One potentially racist element in Middle-Earth is that the majority of the men who serve Sauron are the dark-skinned peoples of the [[Easterlings (First Age)|Easterling]]s and [[Southrons]]. They come from the South and East of Middle-Earth, corresponding with Asia and Africa in the loose connection between Middle-Earth geography and that of the real world.
The Easterlings are aligned with Morgoth or Sauron with the exception of Bór's folk. They are described as being of fairly dark skin complexion, swarthy and exceedingly cruel. The Southrons (or Haradrim) are described as black-skinned, cruel and evil, and are apparently at least inspired by Indian cultures with traits such as fighting on [[Mumakil]]-back.

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like [[Freca]] and [[Wulf]], who are related to the [[Dunlendings]], are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark). Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, and this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry.

While the Easterlings and the Haradrim are dark-skinned people in the service of the Enemy, the [[Woses]] are primitive, small, and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghan-buri-Ghan only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in ''The Return of the King''). While Tolkien does not mention their skin colour, they were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative explicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as ''Edain'', or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.

However, not all enemies are non-white. Noteworthy examples are Saruman, [[Gríma]], [[Gollum]], and at least two of the [[Nazgûl]]. Also [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] and the [[ruffians]] are white-skinned characters who ravage and take over [[the Shire]]. Indeed, while during the timeframe of Lord of the Rings those enslaved and serving Sauron are darker skinned people from the South and East, during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy.

Tolkien also wrote that the [[Blue Wizards]], who do not appear in '''The Lord of the Rings'' narrative, were sent into the South and East lands to spread dissent and resistance against Sauron. While he wrote on one occasion (as given in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'') that they failed, on another occasion (as given in ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]'') he wrote that they were successful, making Sauron's hold on these lands throughout the centuries significantly weaker than it should have been. This prevented Sauron from overwhelming the West with his armies and ultimately contributed to his defeat in the War of the Ring. This means that Southrons and Easterlings resisting Sauron were meant to exist, only that their stories remain untold.

===Racism in Middle-earth===
Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the [[Woses]]. The friendship between [[Legolas]] and [[Gimli]] is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences. When [[Gimli]] takes a strand of [[Galadriel]]'s hair, he is described as having ''"look[ed] into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding."''

It is notable that there is apparently racism within the ranks of Orcs as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called ''snaga'' (slave).

The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them. They are not without prejudice, however, and Gandalf is shown reprimanding Frodo for his comments on [[Barliman Butterbur]].

The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the [[Kin-strife]]), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir]] while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar (King of Gondor)|Eldacar]].

===Dwarves as Jews===

Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
{{quote|"The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."|J.R.R. Tolkien<ref>http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm</ref>}}
One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language [[Khuzdul]] to Semitic languages. In another letter, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[Letter 176]])

Throughout the books, Tolkien paints a mostly positive picture of the dwarves ([[Gimli]] of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jewish people.

However, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings]]. Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. It is also possible to draw a connection between the bearded Dwarves and the beards of Orthodox Jews.

===Númenóreans===

Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people]] who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor. It should be also noted that according to Theosophy, Ariosophy and Nazism<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Occultism</ref>, the Aryan race is supposedly descended from [[Atlantis]].<ref>Alfred Rosenberg, [[Wikipedia:The_Myth_of_the_Twentieth_Century|The Myth of the Twentieth Century]]</ref>

Although gifted, many of Tolkien's Númenóreans are evil. In the Appendices to the Return of the King, Númenórean fleets sail to Middle Earth, where they conquer and subjugate native peoples in what may be a commentary on European imperialism. The Númenóreans ultimately cause their own downfall by following the teachings of Morgoth, conducting human sacrifices, and making war on Valinor. At least three of the Nazgûl are Númenóreans.

==Counterindications==
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism leveled at ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.

*The symbolism of light as good and dark as evil is a prehistoric dichotomy present in a great many cultures, Western and otherwise. It is also a part of Christianity (John 8:12 Jesus Christ said, "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."). Variations such as the Manicheeist heresy and further the ancient religion of Persia - Zoroastrianism.

*Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote ''The Lord of the Rings'' according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.

*Tolkien only made precise ''geographic'' correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, [[Hobbiton]] was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but ''was not actually'' rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the ''peoples'' concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. ''The Silmarillion'' presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.

*Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband]]. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west).

*The white but darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain]] (through the [[House of Haleth]]), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dunedain of Numenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dunedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.

*In the War of the Ring, the human enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Numenoreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.

*Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in ''The Lord of the Rings''; however the Easterlings of ''The Silmarillion'' are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings.

*Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum]]), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical sub-Saharan African features.

*All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dunedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dunedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in [[Atlantis]], since Numenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to Plato's Atlantis. The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.

*Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, [[Samwise Gamgee]] represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.

*There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings, save perhaps the [[Vanyar]]. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Numenoreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.

==''Lord of the Rings'' and Fascism==

In Italy, ''Lord of the Rings'' is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting.<ref>http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm</ref> According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet], [[Wikipedia:Alleanza Nazionale|Alleanza Nazionale]], a right-oriented Italian political party, had taken a picture from ''Fellowship of the Ring'' movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Wikipedia:Gianfranco Fini|Gianfranco Fini]].<ref>http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604</ref>

Tolkien's works have also been embraced by self-admitted racists such as the British National Party.<ref>The Sunday Times - [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article804465.ece The BNP has declared Lord of the Rings essential reading. They’re not the only extremists to get the wrong idea]</ref>

However, Tolkien himself stated in a letter to his son in 1943 that ''My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)-or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy.'' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) [https://rodbenson.com/2011/08/20/tolkien-on-anarchism/]. Thus this makes any notion of Tolkien being fascist defunct.

==Relevant Passages from the text==
{{quote|It is not unlikely that they <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Orcs]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them"|''[[The Hobbit]]'', "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"}}

{{quote|It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.|''[[The Two Towers]]'', "[[Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit]]"}}

==Tolkien on Racism==
{{quote|I must say that the enclosed letter from Rutten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any ''Bestätigung'' (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.|[[Letter 29]] — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin}}

{{quote|Thank you for your letter... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ''arisch''. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone [sic] of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.|[[Letter 30]] (Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)}}

{{quote|There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done.|J.R.R. Tolkien — September 23, 1944}}

{{quote|I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.|From a [[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford]] in [[1959]]}}

{{quote|As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long.|[[Letter 61]] — Written to Christopher Tolkien who was stationed in South Africa during World War II}}

{{quote|Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[Letter 45]]}}

==External links==

*[http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/11/29/is-it-true-there-is-racism-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/ Is It True There is Racism in The Lord of the Rings?] by [[Michael Martinez]]
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist Portion of a Tolkien FAQ attempting to give an answer to the matter]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm Critique of the Lord of the Rings as an 'epic rooted in racism' by Dr Shapiro]
*[http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-030112epringsrace,0,4574891.story 'Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory] by Chicago Tribune
{{references}}
[[Category:Debates]]
[[category:Tolkien criticism]]

Racism

2020-07-31T09:27:32Z

ThePatchGuy: Demand of citation and justification of revised statements.

{{sources}}
{{quote|For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own.|David Ibata, ''Chicago Tribune''<ref>http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story</ref>}}

[[File:The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Haradrim.jpg|thumb|225px|''[[Haradrim]]'' from [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]]]
[[Image:John Howe - Easterlings.jpg|thumb|''Easterlings'' by [[John Howe]]]]

Some fans and critics of Tolkien's works could observe several ambiguously '''Racist and race-based elements'''; these go further into stereotyping or the symbolism of good versus evil in the Tolkien's [[Legendarium]]. Though the latter is a more canonically valid and established area of study, as early as the first edition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' the topic of 'race' has been discussed, including by [[C.S. Lewis]].{{fact}}

In the [[The Lord of the Rings Foreword|Foreword]] to the revised edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself. Furthermore, according to his own claims, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and apartheid and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below). Tolkien can therefore be described as an author whose messages, allegories (or lack-thereof), and agendas as being set aside from the social-political domain and entirely focused within a fantasy-fiction context.

[[Christine Chism]] mentions the issue of racism in the ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', where she distinguishes accusations as falling into three categories: intentional racism, unconscious [[Wikipedia:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] bias, and an evolution from latent racism in Tolkien's early work to a conscious rejection of racist tendencies in his late work.{{fact}}

[[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] has done much to perpetuate recent popular interest in, as well as criticism of Tolkien's writings.{{fact}}

==Indications==

===Orcs===
The mostly white Free Peoples of Middle-Earth doing battle with the hordes of beast-like orcs is seen by some as an indication of racism.{{fact}}

Of the orcs, the [[Uruk-Hai]] are described as "black <ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book two chapter 5: ''"some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor"'' and appendix A: ''"In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor"''</ref> and a smaller orc, a tracker, is described as "black-skinned".<ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book six chapter 2 ''"it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind."''</ref> All orcs are often described as "slant-eyed" and the Uruk-Hai at least refer to the Rohirrim as 'white skins.' In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as ''"...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."''([[Letter 210]])

While Tolkien's statement comparing Orcs to the "Mongol-types" is undoubtedly insensitive given today's standards, he does put a disclaimer, "(to Europeans,)" before "least lovely", at least recognizing Western cultural bias and also points out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". It is worth noting that some Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term scimitar, which are historically associated with the Middle-East).

Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.

===Light vs. Dark===
Some critics have declared that there is racism in Tolkien's works through his use of the words such as "light" and "white" vs. "dark" or "black". In 2002, John Yatt in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "White men are good, 'dark' men are bad, orcs are worst of all."<ref>The Guardian (2 December 2002)</ref>. Other critics such as [[Tom Shippey]] and [[Michael D.C. Drout]] disagree with such clear-cut generalizations of Tolkien's "white" and "dark" men into good and bad.

The whole of Tolkien's Legendarium contains a conflict between ''literal'' light (The Trees, the [[Silmarils]]) and darkness (the literal absence of light). Morgoth's standard was ''"sable unblazoned"'' (that is, plain black). ''"Mordor"'' means "black land" in Sindarin. This ongoing clash may be interpreted as containing racial symbolism of light skinned versus dark skinned peoples, although Eol, father of Maeglin was known as the Dark Elf, and the Moriquendi were called the Elves of Darkness, although both these terms refer to remaining outside the light of the two trees, not to skin tone. The [[Black Númenóreans]] are likewise named because of the color of their allegiance to Sauron and their heraldry, not their skin tone.

But white is not associated only with Good. [[Saruman]] the White has the [[White Hand]] as his symbol. Similarly black is not only associated with evil as Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth]], three Númenórean ships are followed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the ''Black Enemy'') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.

===Evil Men===
One potentially racist element in Middle-Earth is that the majority of the men who serve Sauron are the dark-skinned peoples of the [[Easterlings (First Age)|Easterling]]s and [[Southrons]]. They come from the South and East of Middle-Earth, corresponding with Asia and Africa in the loose connection between Middle-Earth geography and that of the real world.
The Easterlings are aligned with Morgoth or Sauron with the exception of Bór's folk. They are described as being of fairly dark skin complexion, swarthy and exceedingly cruel. The Southrons (or Haradrim) are described as black-skinned, cruel and evil, and are apparently at least inspired by Indian cultures with traits such as fighting on [[Mumakil]]-back.

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like [[Freca]] and [[Wulf]], who are related to the [[Dunlendings]], are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark). Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, and this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry.

While the Easterlings and the Haradrim are dark-skinned people in the service of the Enemy, the [[Woses]] are primitive, small, and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghan-buri-Ghan only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in ''The Return of the King''). While Tolkien does not mention their skin colour, they were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative explicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as ''Edain'', or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.

However, not all enemies are non-white. Noteworthy examples are Saruman, [[Gríma]], [[Gollum]], and at least two of the [[Nazgûl]]. Also [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] and the [[ruffians]] are white-skinned characters who ravage and take over [[the Shire]]. Indeed, while during the timeframe of Lord of the Rings those enslaved and serving Sauron are darker skinned people from the South and East, during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy.

Tolkien also wrote that the [[Blue Wizards]], who do not appear in '''The Lord of the Rings'' narrative, were sent into the South and East lands to spread dissent and resistance against Sauron. While he wrote on one occasion (as given in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'') that they failed, on another occasion (as given in ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]'') he wrote that they were successful, making Sauron's hold on these lands throughout the centuries significantly weaker than it should have been. This prevented Sauron from overwhelming the West with his armies and ultimately contributed to his defeat in the War of the Ring. This means that Southrons and Easterlings resisting Sauron were meant to exist, only that their stories remain untold.

===Racism in Middle-earth===
Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the [[Woses]]. The friendship between [[Legolas]] and [[Gimli]] is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences. When [[Gimli]] takes a strand of [[Galadriel]]'s hair, he is described as having ''"look[ed] into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding."''

It is notable that there is apparently racism within the ranks of Orcs as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called ''snaga'' (slave).

The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them. They are not without prejudice, however, and Gandalf is shown reprimanding Frodo for his comments on [[Barliman Butterbur]].

The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the [[Kin-strife]]), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir]] while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar (King of Gondor)|Eldacar]].

===Dwarves as Jews===

Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
{{quote|"The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."|J.R.R. Tolkien<ref>http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm</ref>}}
One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language [[Khuzdul]] to Semitic languages. In another letter, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[Letter 176]])

Throughout the books, Tolkien paints a mostly positive picture of the dwarves ([[Gimli]] of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jewish people.

However, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings]]. Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. It is also possible to draw a connection between the bearded Dwarves and the beards of Orthodox Jews.

===Númenóreans===

Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people]] who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor. It should be also noted that according to Theosophy, Ariosophy and Nazism<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Occultism</ref>, the Aryan race is supposedly descended from [[Atlantis]].<ref>Alfred Rosenberg, [[Wikipedia:The_Myth_of_the_Twentieth_Century|The Myth of the Twentieth Century]]</ref>

Although gifted, many of Tolkien's Númenóreans are evil. In the Appendices to the Return of the King, Númenórean fleets sail to Middle Earth, where they conquer and subjugate native peoples in what may be a commentary on European imperialism. The Númenóreans ultimately cause their own downfall by following the teachings of Morgoth, conducting human sacrifices, and making war on Valinor. At least three of the Nazgûl are Númenóreans.

==Counterindications==
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism leveled at ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.

*The symbolism of light as good and dark as evil is a prehistoric dichotomy present in a great many cultures, Western and otherwise. It is also a part of Christianity (John 8:12 Jesus Christ said, "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."). Variations such as the Manicheeist heresy and further the ancient religion of Persia - Zoroastrianism.

*Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote ''The Lord of the Rings'' according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.

*Tolkien only made precise ''geographic'' correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, [[Hobbiton]] was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but ''was not actually'' rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the ''peoples'' concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. ''The Silmarillion'' presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.

*Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband]]. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west).

*The white but darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain]] (through the [[House of Haleth]]), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dunedain of Numenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dunedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.

*In the War of the Ring, the human enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Numenoreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.

*Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in ''The Lord of the Rings''; however the Easterlings of ''The Silmarillion'' are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings.

*Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum]]), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical sub-Saharan African features.

*All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dunedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dunedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in [[Atlantis]], since Numenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to Plato's Atlantis. The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.

*Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, [[Samwise Gamgee]] represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.

*There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings, save perhaps the [[Vanyar]]. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Numenoreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.

==''Lord of the Rings'' and Fascism==

In Italy, ''Lord of the Rings'' is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting.<ref>http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm</ref> According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet], [[Wikipedia:Alleanza Nazionale|Alleanza Nazionale]], a right-oriented Italian political party, had taken a picture from ''Fellowship of the Ring'' movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Wikipedia:Gianfranco Fini|Gianfranco Fini]].<ref>http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604</ref>

Tolkien's works have also been embraced by self-admitted racists such as the British National Party.<ref>The Sunday Times - [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article804465.ece The BNP has declared Lord of the Rings essential reading. They’re not the only extremists to get the wrong idea]</ref>

However, Tolkien himself stated in a letter to his son in 1943 that ''My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)-or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy.'' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) [https://rodbenson.com/2011/08/20/tolkien-on-anarchism/]. Thus this makes any notion of Tolkien being fascist defunct.

==Relevant Passages from the text==
{{quote|It is not unlikely that they <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Orcs]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them"|''[[The Hobbit]]'', "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"}}

{{quote|It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.|''[[The Two Towers]]'', "[[Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit]]"}}

==Tolkien on Racism==
{{quote|I must say that the enclosed letter from Rutten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any ''Bestätigung'' (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.|[[Letter 29]] — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin}}

{{quote|Thank you for your letter... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ''arisch''. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone [sic] of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.|[[Letter 30]] (Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)}}

{{quote|There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done.|J.R.R. Tolkien — September 23, 1944}}

{{quote|I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.|From a [[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford]] in [[1959]]}}

{{quote|As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long.|[[Letter 61]] — Written to Christopher Tolkien who was stationed in South Africa during World War II}}

{{quote|Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[Letter 45]]}}

==External links==

*[http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/11/29/is-it-true-there-is-racism-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/ Is It True There is Racism in The Lord of the Rings?] by [[Michael Martinez]]
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist Portion of a Tolkien FAQ attempting to give an answer to the matter]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm Critique of the Lord of the Rings as an 'epic rooted in racism' by Dr Shapiro]
*[http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-030112epringsrace,0,4574891.story 'Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory] by Chicago Tribune
{{references}}
[[Category:Debates]]
[[category:Tolkien criticism]]

Talk:Racism

2020-07-31T09:22:11Z

ThePatchGuy: /* Seek and you shall find */

== This page simply can't remain as it is ==
This page simply can't remain as it is - it is based largely on opinion and is often just plain incorrect (such as references to allegory and orcs being dark-skinned). What should be done? Should there be a deletion, or should the evidence for both sides be presented in a less opinionated manner? --[[User:Narfil Palùrfalas|Narfil Palùrfalas]] 20:49, 15 April 2008 (EDT)

:Agree This is load of crap that Tolkien himself addressed racism in his letters, and said that he wasn't and that the idea was ludicrous. DELETE IT! --[[User:Dwarf Lord|Dwarf Lord]] 21:30, 15 April 2008 (EDT)

::I say: don't delete it. We could improve it as a refutation (rename as "Perceived Racism in Tolkien's Works" or something); it is clear that Hippy never read the letters. There are, on various spots on the net, refutations ([http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist this one] for example, or [http://imdb.com/name/nm0866058/board/nest/4761136 this] could be used to "harvest" stuff for the article). As we are an Encyclopedia that covers more than just the text-internal elements, ignoring perceived racism would be bad form. The problem with books is, kinda like feminist book reports (nothing personal), that if you want a book to have a certain bias, you will obviously "find" "clear evidence" through cherry picking of that bias, blatantly ignoring anything that does not match your already fixed conclusion. It's called confirmation bias, the bane of reason. -- [[User:Ederchil|Ederchil]] 03:27, 16 April 2008 (EDT)
::PS Speaking of feminism, should we have a "perceived anti-feminism in Tolkien's works" too?
::Edit: [http://www.tolkiengesellschaft.de/v4/alleszutolkien/news/news20030103.shtml This] has some useful sources on extreme right use!

::: I dont think this page should be deleted because it brings up some interesting issues and to ignore them would be to cover up a potentially less desirable angle on Tolkien's works. To ignore it would be to foist modern political trend onto a work that is, from a certain angle fundamentally racist. I agree with Ederchil that it should however be presented as a balanced argument with no real conclusion one way or another. [[User:Dr Death|Dr Death]] 05:35, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

::::You obviously haven't read the letters Death. I believe having a balanced page with no real conclusion is, no offense, a ridiculous idea. There is a final answer to this and that is Tolkien based the Evil Men on Africans, Arabs, and possibly Asians. So what! This would be a non-issue if we were talking about Black Numenoreans, and the Fallen Numenoreans of the Second Age. --[[User:Dwarf Lord|Dwarf Lord]] 18:13, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

:::::Let me start off my reply by stating, as I think we all agree, the current content on the article definitely needs to be rewritten entirely, and should obviously include the several quotations by Tolkien on this matter. [http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=racism+tolkien&btnG=Google+Search tolkien and racism] brings up over 100,000 results on Google; this subject is something which has been discussed frequently and I think an article on racist elements in Tolkien's works (as well as the un-racist reasonings) is more than welcome on the wiki. I do agree with Ederchil that a more neural title may be necessary but for now it is probably fine. Dwarf Lord, I don't think anyone here is arguing that Tolkien is a racist, there's a lot of information out there on this subject so why not gather it all together so fans can read all the facts. Simply deleting a controversial article is only going to leave more people uninformed. --[[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]] 21:15, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

:::: Not so obviously Dwarflord as i have in fact read them. While you may think that one line in a book is enough to base an argument on i assure you it is not and i think as Hyarion says the issue does need to be addressed since there is so much said and written about it. I myself would not call Tolkien a racist by the standards of the time, however to modern readers his views may be considered that way and so as a reliable and open source of Tolkien knowledge we should be willing to face those accusations and provide the facts of the issue allowing the readers to make up their own minds. No need to be rude and confrontational about it and cast aspersions on my (i think you'll agree)excellent knowledge of the subject. [[User:Dr Death|Dr Death]] 05:34, 17 April 2008 (EDT)

:::: I just made the article so that the issue could be addressed. I relied on the other nerds of this site to flesh it out and make it less biased. I basically just wrote down all the racist shit I could think of in Tolkien's works and waited until other people made it better. Which you have, so thank you. And thanks to this page, I believe that Tolkien Gateway is now a more well-rounded site. [[User:TheOneCleanHippy|TheOneCleanHippy]] 05:13, 12 July 2008 (EDT)

==The Rewrite==
Or, less talk, more action.
As for Hyar's google search, we're currently 4th ranked. Above us, it's a 1,5-1,5 draw. So here's some suggestions as to what the article should (IMHO) have:
*More neutral name
*Introduction
*Use of Tolkien's work by Extreme right groups (BNP et al.).
*Claims and refutations. This should by generalized into things as "Racism", "Nordicism", not a point by point ragtag analysis of "Dark bad, white good".
*There's a good quote against the nordicism claim in Letter 294. Racism has four hits in the index. Letter 30, Letter 61, Letter 81 and once again 294. It's basically about Nazi Übermensch doctrine and Apartheid, and he clearly states he's "appalled by thinking in colour".
*As for racial purity, [[Kin-strife]], much? Snaga, much?
*A certain temporal relativity should be clear throughout the article. To today's western standards, Tolkien was a racist. But in his time, he wasn't. Same goes for people famed for being not racists like Lincoln and Darwin.
*We should mention Stephen Shapiro's claims - the top google rank. Reading the article makes me wonder whether we read the same book. His claim of the "uber-aryan fellowship" falls flat on its face. Rediff is an Indian site (target audience?), Shapiro is into ''"writing and culture of the United States, particularly the pre-twentieth century period; Cultural Studies; literary theory; historical formations of gender and sexuality; marxism, world-systems analyses; urban and spatial studies, and critiques of the bourgeois lifeworld as a mental disease. More broadly, late Enlightenment, 19 and 20/21C narrative"''[http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/people/academic/shapirodrstephen/]; he's neither a linguist (who would not use "Aryan" in that sense) nor a Tolkien scholar.
*Links to other sites like [http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html] and [http://www.tolkiengesellschaft.de/v4/alleszutolkien/news/news20030103.shtml] (more shapiro), maybe some others that are above-blog entry level, maybe something from the Tolkien Estate (the site is minimal at the moment).

Anyone has any other ideas? -- [[User:Ederchil|Ederchil]] 13:54, 18 April 2008 (EDT)

Late reply: Only today this article came to my attention. I pasted a great bulk of text that comes from a deleted Wikipedia article, unacceptable since it is Original Research and the claims are not easily verifiable. It still needs some cleanup since it contains many repetitions. I hope that helps [[User:Sage|Sage]] 11:30, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

I moved the article to a more neutral title. --[[User:Pinkkeith|Pinkkeith]] 15:12, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

==Evil Men==
I gutted the Evil Men section as it seemed (besided horribly worded) based primarily on the films. The Southrons are described as wearing bronze plate armor and riding horses, so it is erroneous to say they are clearly based on African tribes. There is also nothing fundamentally "Mongollian" or "Middle Eastern" about the Easterlings (which are two wildly different cultures and I'm not clear how one could be both at once).

An aknowledgement of their geography and skin colors is really the most accurate way of describing the unfortunate racist implications of the Haradrim and Easterlings. It is not the Professors fault if someone paints them as Aftican (although in the Jackson films, the Haradrim are inspired by South Pacific cultures).

This section seems out of place, and I have put all of the non-repetitive point into the 'indications' section.

The "Good Side" section was unsalvageable. Elves are not "general Europeans" (what does that even mean?) and The Rohan are clearly based on Anglo-Saxons, not the Norse. I suspect the original author doesn't know what 'fair' means, because most of the men of Gondor are not described as fair in the slightest. [[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 17:17, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
:I don't agree with the "gutation" of the section. The article is intended to include perceptions, even if wrong, to be refuted in the "Counterindications" section. The descriptions of swarthy men from the East and the South, the black-skinned orcs and their scimitars, bring mental images of AfroAsians, and are the most important contributor to the general accusations. What if the Haradrim wore bronze armor and rode horses? The mental image is already established by the average reader, who won't make a checklist for the historical/cultural dissimilarities. For example I never knew or cared whether Africans rode horses and this information didn't help me from envisioning the Southrons as Egyptians or Arabians. After all, Arabs were great riders, and aren't far from Africa.
:As for the Good people, TTT was perceived by critics as a war between the fair Nordic Aryan Rohirrim against the black Orcs. There is no point tracing whose fault is: the Professor's, Jackson's, the painters' or the viewers'. The perception and criticism are there, no matter how wrong or unfounded, and the article is meant to describe that they exist. [[User:Sage|Sage]] 19:04, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

:::If the case is to describe and refute unfounded views, then they should be described as such. "Perceived Racism in Adaptations of Tolkien" might be a better title because if we're talking about a vague 'general perception' then it has little to do with actual racism in Tolkien's work, which is a legitimate field of discussion, and mixing the two just makes the whole thing a mish-mash.

:::Regardless, "Evil Men" as it's own section seemed out of place, and I still think what was good in that section belongs in other sections
[[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 20:03, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
::::The "netral title" proposal is something discussed before, as I see above [[User:Sage|Sage]] 10:51, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

:::::The title is the least worry. The article is a general mish-mash of lgeitamate commentary on the work, vague perceptions, and weasly accusations.
The fact that YES the Haradrim are dark skinned and from the South is itself worth noting and discussing (and note I didn't cut the mention, just the unfounded speculation), but because you, me, or some other reader imagines Egyptians, Arabs, North Africans, West Africans, Zulus, Pygmies, or Indians is not itself worth mentioning. If I imagines the orcs as black or purple, and the Haradrim in zebra-skin or turbans, that has nothing to do with the actual work.

I've tried reorganizing some of the point and analysis, to make the article read less like a list of comments on a youtube video.
[[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 22:30, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

==Not Racism==
Unless a feudal society is fundamentally racist (a claim that seems foolish given that the king is king over his own race) to imply that all refrecnes to nobility and class stratification is racist seems like stretching. Likewise with any economic disparity in the Shire. The article is on racism, not on how Middle-Earth falls short of an egalitarian ideal and these seem out of the scope of this article. [[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 18:52, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
:Not strictly racist, but the reference to royalty is not a political reference to the feudal society or egalitarianism, but to the ideology. Royal lines in Tolkien are generally special and heirs have qualities above the norm showing therefore some genetic-based nobility. Excessive protagonism of Heirs is a ground of criticism by some "Tolkien is racist" critics. At least where I live, royalty is linked to the right-wing :) [[User:Sage|Sage]] 19:15, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

==Reorganization==
I've mosty reorganized, with minimal cutting (except of repeated info) or addition. The Indications/Counterindications format makes the article extremely difficlt to read, and gives the same weight to genuine things from the text (the untrustworthy Bill Fearny) and things people just seemed to have made-up. There are still a great man counterindications that I don't want to cut haphhazardly, but I have no idea how to present them more clearly or easier to read.

I've also cut a great deal of the Synopsis. It's extremely wordy and yet very vague, and makes sweeping generalizations that are uncited, such as ''Tolkien's defenders contend that the various "races" are exaggerated personifications of broadly accepted value judgements,'' Not only is that sentence tortured, I've never heard Tolkien's defender's make such a claim, and I'm at least moderatly well read on the subject. [[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 17:41, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
:My experience says that when wikis say "defenders of A say B" it means "i am a defender of A, and my response to the criticism is B" ;) So that's what the editor was thinking.
:Since Gateway tolerates debates, even uncited ones, it's ok for me if the explanation stays there. It sounds valid if you ask me. [[User:Sage|Sage]] 19:05, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

:::I'm trying not to cut too much, but can we agree that statements supports by Tolkien's actual work should at least be more prominent than somewhat vague assertations of who among us editors thinks what, and we should do our best that any opinions left in the article should be written as clearly as possible?

:::The main problem with the synopsis is that it is NOT a synopsis. It does not summarize anything, it just presents a series of broad, unneccesarily verbose, and nearly meaningless comments, many of which are demonstrably false if we look at the books.19:38, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

== Good article ==

I see from the discussions above quite a lot of work has gone into this article. Now, reading it for the first time, it strikes me as being particularly full and well written (though not complete, and not completely sourced, as the tag says). I wonder, does the gateway have any mechanism for recognising good articles yet (like Wikipedia's featured article status)? --[[User:Aule the Smith|Aule the Smith]] 09:15, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

:You can suggest a page on [[USER:Ederchil|Ederchil]]'s talk page. And then (it should be) discussed in a TG meeting, or at least in the forum, IMHO. --[[User:Morgan|Morgan]] 09:26, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

::We do have [[Tolkien Gateway: Featured articles|Featured]]'s, but there's not much structure in that department. -- {{User:Ederchil/sig}} 09:27, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

== Many problems with the counter arguments ==

Now, I'm not saying Tolkien was a racist, nor am I here to "prove" he was. But as an avid fan (and seven-year enWikipedia editor with over 50,000 edits) I'm annoyed by inaccuracies. I'm an "entitled" white European guy with no agenda :). I was going through the "Counterindications" section, and here's a few problems I found:

*The symbolism of light over darkness does not "go back to Christianity" it goes even further back. And its not a tenet of "primitive" Christianity, as modern Christianity emphasizes the dichotomy as well.

*Yes, Morgoth was in the North, Sauron preferred the heat, but the concept that "The West" = Good is ubiquitous. (Again, I like this stuff about Tolkien, I'm just pointing out its misleading to imply geographic sides of the globe meant nothing).

*The Duunlendings were not Edain, and they were not descendants from the Men of Haleth. They belong to the same people, but did not enter Beleriand. (They are also very obviously intended to be Celtic people, Scotsmen/Picts probably.)

*@"the enemies are not truly evil", this may perhaps refer only to Men, not to Orcs, but really it just isn't true. Yes, Faramir "wonders" whether the man was deceived or coerced, but the Men of the South and East are consistently portrayed as evil, the "Cruel Haradrim" e.g.

*@"many of the 'white' Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings."?? Really? Who? There are no Men there but the Dunlendings, i.e. Men of their "type" (Breelanders = civilized Dunlendings).

*The features of the Haradrim are indeed described, as "dark". Not implying this means they were black people, but at the very least this indicates their hair was dark. Black people were probably "Troll-Men out of the Far Harad".. is that bit mentioned here? ("'''And out of the Far Harad black men like half-trolls...'''")

*@"There are no truly 'perfect' peoples in Tolkien's writings". Yes there are. The blond Vanyar. And probably the Teleri in Aman... Or really all Elves besides the Noldor.

*Yes, the Dunedain do not have modern-day analogues, but the Middle Men do. And besides, by the time of LotR the Men of Gondor also became Middle by Faramir's own estimate. The whole point there is that the Middle Men are "superior" to the Low. It doesn't help at all to point out that the High are no longer there..

Then there are further issues with the "Light vs Dark" section. Yes, Saruman does still use a White Hand, but he himself has discarded white as his colour when he became evil, and is explicitly criticized by Gandalf for that. That he still uses a white hand symbol is really of little consequence. Unlike the movies, in the book he becomes "Saruman the Many-Coloured" when he turns evil. I don't think this is a relevant argument.

The black field upon which the White Tree is superimposed probably symbolizes the darkness that surrounds the tree. Which is white. Also the flag of the Stewards was white without charge. This too doesn't seem like a very relevant argument.

The "ruffians" are described at various points as being half-orcs, or as having orc blood. Their being white is merely assumed, too, so I don't think its a worth trying to draw something out of this. [[Special:Contributions/94.253.247.194|94.253.247.194]] 13:40, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

:: Er... "The West = Good is ubiquitous" - Many medieval ''mappa mundi'' have the East placed at their top, in the direction of Eden or Paradise. In Tolkien's legendarium, Elves and Men originated in the East. Is there really such a thing as an ubiquitous West=Good? [[User:Drakon|Drakon]] 14:49, 15 March 2014 (UTC)
::: I meant in Tolkien's legendarium, ofc. In the real world you'll find ten cultures for every side of the globe :).
::: Yes, Humans and Elves originated in the east, and then moved towards the "light in the West". Wouldn't be much of a story if they just appeared at the good place from the start, would it? [[Special:Contributions/94.253.247.194|94.253.247.194]] 15:37, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Further point: "during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy". Who? Well technically the Southrons and the Easterlings are "white", in the sense that they're not Black people or Asians. But of the Edain, there are none besides the Numenoreans that became evil... [[Special:Contributions/94.253.247.194|94.253.247.194]] 13:17, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

:It needs sources, but mass deletion doesn't solve anything. I restored most, but kept several of your changes. --{{User:Ederchil/sig}} 13:39, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

::Well, generally, if its unsourced - it can go. [[Special:Contributions/109.60.44.87|109.60.44.87]] 20:53, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

:::Generally, if it's unsourced, it should be checked. --{{User:Ederchil/sig}} 21:16, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

::::If its unsourced, you request sources on talk, and if none are given - you can delete. Or you can delete right away if you like.. Those are basically the guidelines at enWiki. [[Special:Contributions/109.60.44.87|109.60.44.87]] 23:47, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

==Sources & quotes==

*On the question of allegory and "critics who tried to reduce the War of the Rings to an analog of World War II with Hitler as Sauron the Dark Lord. 'Hitler wasn't big enough! He wasn't important enough!' [Tolkien] told us, which was, perhaps, to say that Hitler was not mythic...". (as reported by Mrs Scott in ''[[Eglerio! In Praise of Tolkien]]'').
*From lecture notes in Tolkien's unpublished papers in the Bodleian and quoted in Stuart Lee's article on Tolkien and ''The Wanderer'' in [[Tolkien Studies 6|''Tolkien Studies'' VI]] (2009, p. 195): "I am not a simplifier, dealing with plain polemic discussions in Nordic and Latin, civilized and savage... I only warn you in case you should suspect that I was a secret Nazi and had gone all Nordic, because I wish to emphasize certain things which the bewildered and tragic nonsense talked in modern Germany has made suspect. Believe me I hate it ..." (later crossed through by Tolkien).

These two quotes were [https://www.facebook.com/groups/484971415020402/permalink/487785364739007/ noted by Alan Reynolds] (20 February 2016) in the group "Confirming J.R.R. Tolkien Quotations" at Facebook.--[[User:Morgan|Morgan]] 08:04, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

== Seek and you shall find ==

This is a non-canonical and post-modern / critical theoretical interpretation of Tolkien's work. The entire page is derivative and does not contribute to deeper understandings of Tolkien's explicit and exposed narrative work.

To follow this rabbit hole, we can may also create the following - legitimate - pages for public view:
* "The Racism of Gandalf in Siding with 'Good'"
* "Geo-Racial under-representation in the geography of The Lord of The Rings"
* "Systemic Gender Bias in Determining Characters of Importance in The Lord of The Rings"
* "The Problem of Fat-shaming & Dwarves"
{{unsigned|ThePatchGuy}}

:Seek and you shall find that this article is within the categories [[:Category:Debates|Debates]] and [[:Category:Tolkien criticism|Tolkien Gateway research]]. There is no claim for this being canonical, but there is a lack of sources, as it is indicated above the article. Feel free to write articles about the topics you mention, the admins will decide if it is pertinent to have them or not. --[[User:LorenzoCB|LorenzoCB]] 07:33, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

::I believe this article needs to come under more scrutiny. There is no basis upon which to assign or allegorise the races of Tolkien's Middle-Earth to contemporary socio-political climates. It is a long bow to stretch the links between Tolkien's literature and implied or implicit "racism".

Talk:Racism

2020-07-31T09:21:42Z

ThePatchGuy: /* Seek and you shall find */

== This page simply can't remain as it is ==
This page simply can't remain as it is - it is based largely on opinion and is often just plain incorrect (such as references to allegory and orcs being dark-skinned). What should be done? Should there be a deletion, or should the evidence for both sides be presented in a less opinionated manner? --[[User:Narfil Palùrfalas|Narfil Palùrfalas]] 20:49, 15 April 2008 (EDT)

:Agree This is load of crap that Tolkien himself addressed racism in his letters, and said that he wasn't and that the idea was ludicrous. DELETE IT! --[[User:Dwarf Lord|Dwarf Lord]] 21:30, 15 April 2008 (EDT)

::I say: don't delete it. We could improve it as a refutation (rename as "Perceived Racism in Tolkien's Works" or something); it is clear that Hippy never read the letters. There are, on various spots on the net, refutations ([http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist this one] for example, or [http://imdb.com/name/nm0866058/board/nest/4761136 this] could be used to "harvest" stuff for the article). As we are an Encyclopedia that covers more than just the text-internal elements, ignoring perceived racism would be bad form. The problem with books is, kinda like feminist book reports (nothing personal), that if you want a book to have a certain bias, you will obviously "find" "clear evidence" through cherry picking of that bias, blatantly ignoring anything that does not match your already fixed conclusion. It's called confirmation bias, the bane of reason. -- [[User:Ederchil|Ederchil]] 03:27, 16 April 2008 (EDT)
::PS Speaking of feminism, should we have a "perceived anti-feminism in Tolkien's works" too?
::Edit: [http://www.tolkiengesellschaft.de/v4/alleszutolkien/news/news20030103.shtml This] has some useful sources on extreme right use!

::: I dont think this page should be deleted because it brings up some interesting issues and to ignore them would be to cover up a potentially less desirable angle on Tolkien's works. To ignore it would be to foist modern political trend onto a work that is, from a certain angle fundamentally racist. I agree with Ederchil that it should however be presented as a balanced argument with no real conclusion one way or another. [[User:Dr Death|Dr Death]] 05:35, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

::::You obviously haven't read the letters Death. I believe having a balanced page with no real conclusion is, no offense, a ridiculous idea. There is a final answer to this and that is Tolkien based the Evil Men on Africans, Arabs, and possibly Asians. So what! This would be a non-issue if we were talking about Black Numenoreans, and the Fallen Numenoreans of the Second Age. --[[User:Dwarf Lord|Dwarf Lord]] 18:13, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

:::::Let me start off my reply by stating, as I think we all agree, the current content on the article definitely needs to be rewritten entirely, and should obviously include the several quotations by Tolkien on this matter. [http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=racism+tolkien&btnG=Google+Search tolkien and racism] brings up over 100,000 results on Google; this subject is something which has been discussed frequently and I think an article on racist elements in Tolkien's works (as well as the un-racist reasonings) is more than welcome on the wiki. I do agree with Ederchil that a more neural title may be necessary but for now it is probably fine. Dwarf Lord, I don't think anyone here is arguing that Tolkien is a racist, there's a lot of information out there on this subject so why not gather it all together so fans can read all the facts. Simply deleting a controversial article is only going to leave more people uninformed. --[[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]] 21:15, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

:::: Not so obviously Dwarflord as i have in fact read them. While you may think that one line in a book is enough to base an argument on i assure you it is not and i think as Hyarion says the issue does need to be addressed since there is so much said and written about it. I myself would not call Tolkien a racist by the standards of the time, however to modern readers his views may be considered that way and so as a reliable and open source of Tolkien knowledge we should be willing to face those accusations and provide the facts of the issue allowing the readers to make up their own minds. No need to be rude and confrontational about it and cast aspersions on my (i think you'll agree)excellent knowledge of the subject. [[User:Dr Death|Dr Death]] 05:34, 17 April 2008 (EDT)

:::: I just made the article so that the issue could be addressed. I relied on the other nerds of this site to flesh it out and make it less biased. I basically just wrote down all the racist shit I could think of in Tolkien's works and waited until other people made it better. Which you have, so thank you. And thanks to this page, I believe that Tolkien Gateway is now a more well-rounded site. [[User:TheOneCleanHippy|TheOneCleanHippy]] 05:13, 12 July 2008 (EDT)

==The Rewrite==
Or, less talk, more action.
As for Hyar's google search, we're currently 4th ranked. Above us, it's a 1,5-1,5 draw. So here's some suggestions as to what the article should (IMHO) have:
*More neutral name
*Introduction
*Use of Tolkien's work by Extreme right groups (BNP et al.).
*Claims and refutations. This should by generalized into things as "Racism", "Nordicism", not a point by point ragtag analysis of "Dark bad, white good".
*There's a good quote against the nordicism claim in Letter 294. Racism has four hits in the index. Letter 30, Letter 61, Letter 81 and once again 294. It's basically about Nazi Übermensch doctrine and Apartheid, and he clearly states he's "appalled by thinking in colour".
*As for racial purity, [[Kin-strife]], much? Snaga, much?
*A certain temporal relativity should be clear throughout the article. To today's western standards, Tolkien was a racist. But in his time, he wasn't. Same goes for people famed for being not racists like Lincoln and Darwin.
*We should mention Stephen Shapiro's claims - the top google rank. Reading the article makes me wonder whether we read the same book. His claim of the "uber-aryan fellowship" falls flat on its face. Rediff is an Indian site (target audience?), Shapiro is into ''"writing and culture of the United States, particularly the pre-twentieth century period; Cultural Studies; literary theory; historical formations of gender and sexuality; marxism, world-systems analyses; urban and spatial studies, and critiques of the bourgeois lifeworld as a mental disease. More broadly, late Enlightenment, 19 and 20/21C narrative"''[http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/people/academic/shapirodrstephen/]; he's neither a linguist (who would not use "Aryan" in that sense) nor a Tolkien scholar.
*Links to other sites like [http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html] and [http://www.tolkiengesellschaft.de/v4/alleszutolkien/news/news20030103.shtml] (more shapiro), maybe some others that are above-blog entry level, maybe something from the Tolkien Estate (the site is minimal at the moment).

Anyone has any other ideas? -- [[User:Ederchil|Ederchil]] 13:54, 18 April 2008 (EDT)

Late reply: Only today this article came to my attention. I pasted a great bulk of text that comes from a deleted Wikipedia article, unacceptable since it is Original Research and the claims are not easily verifiable. It still needs some cleanup since it contains many repetitions. I hope that helps [[User:Sage|Sage]] 11:30, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

I moved the article to a more neutral title. --[[User:Pinkkeith|Pinkkeith]] 15:12, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

==Evil Men==
I gutted the Evil Men section as it seemed (besided horribly worded) based primarily on the films. The Southrons are described as wearing bronze plate armor and riding horses, so it is erroneous to say they are clearly based on African tribes. There is also nothing fundamentally "Mongollian" or "Middle Eastern" about the Easterlings (which are two wildly different cultures and I'm not clear how one could be both at once).

An aknowledgement of their geography and skin colors is really the most accurate way of describing the unfortunate racist implications of the Haradrim and Easterlings. It is not the Professors fault if someone paints them as Aftican (although in the Jackson films, the Haradrim are inspired by South Pacific cultures).

This section seems out of place, and I have put all of the non-repetitive point into the 'indications' section.

The "Good Side" section was unsalvageable. Elves are not "general Europeans" (what does that even mean?) and The Rohan are clearly based on Anglo-Saxons, not the Norse. I suspect the original author doesn't know what 'fair' means, because most of the men of Gondor are not described as fair in the slightest. [[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 17:17, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
:I don't agree with the "gutation" of the section. The article is intended to include perceptions, even if wrong, to be refuted in the "Counterindications" section. The descriptions of swarthy men from the East and the South, the black-skinned orcs and their scimitars, bring mental images of AfroAsians, and are the most important contributor to the general accusations. What if the Haradrim wore bronze armor and rode horses? The mental image is already established by the average reader, who won't make a checklist for the historical/cultural dissimilarities. For example I never knew or cared whether Africans rode horses and this information didn't help me from envisioning the Southrons as Egyptians or Arabians. After all, Arabs were great riders, and aren't far from Africa.
:As for the Good people, TTT was perceived by critics as a war between the fair Nordic Aryan Rohirrim against the black Orcs. There is no point tracing whose fault is: the Professor's, Jackson's, the painters' or the viewers'. The perception and criticism are there, no matter how wrong or unfounded, and the article is meant to describe that they exist. [[User:Sage|Sage]] 19:04, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

:::If the case is to describe and refute unfounded views, then they should be described as such. "Perceived Racism in Adaptations of Tolkien" might be a better title because if we're talking about a vague 'general perception' then it has little to do with actual racism in Tolkien's work, which is a legitimate field of discussion, and mixing the two just makes the whole thing a mish-mash.

:::Regardless, "Evil Men" as it's own section seemed out of place, and I still think what was good in that section belongs in other sections
[[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 20:03, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
::::The "netral title" proposal is something discussed before, as I see above [[User:Sage|Sage]] 10:51, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

:::::The title is the least worry. The article is a general mish-mash of lgeitamate commentary on the work, vague perceptions, and weasly accusations.
The fact that YES the Haradrim are dark skinned and from the South is itself worth noting and discussing (and note I didn't cut the mention, just the unfounded speculation), but because you, me, or some other reader imagines Egyptians, Arabs, North Africans, West Africans, Zulus, Pygmies, or Indians is not itself worth mentioning. If I imagines the orcs as black or purple, and the Haradrim in zebra-skin or turbans, that has nothing to do with the actual work.

I've tried reorganizing some of the point and analysis, to make the article read less like a list of comments on a youtube video.
[[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 22:30, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

==Not Racism==
Unless a feudal society is fundamentally racist (a claim that seems foolish given that the king is king over his own race) to imply that all refrecnes to nobility and class stratification is racist seems like stretching. Likewise with any economic disparity in the Shire. The article is on racism, not on how Middle-Earth falls short of an egalitarian ideal and these seem out of the scope of this article. [[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 18:52, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
:Not strictly racist, but the reference to royalty is not a political reference to the feudal society or egalitarianism, but to the ideology. Royal lines in Tolkien are generally special and heirs have qualities above the norm showing therefore some genetic-based nobility. Excessive protagonism of Heirs is a ground of criticism by some "Tolkien is racist" critics. At least where I live, royalty is linked to the right-wing :) [[User:Sage|Sage]] 19:15, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

==Reorganization==
I've mosty reorganized, with minimal cutting (except of repeated info) or addition. The Indications/Counterindications format makes the article extremely difficlt to read, and gives the same weight to genuine things from the text (the untrustworthy Bill Fearny) and things people just seemed to have made-up. There are still a great man counterindications that I don't want to cut haphhazardly, but I have no idea how to present them more clearly or easier to read.

I've also cut a great deal of the Synopsis. It's extremely wordy and yet very vague, and makes sweeping generalizations that are uncited, such as ''Tolkien's defenders contend that the various "races" are exaggerated personifications of broadly accepted value judgements,'' Not only is that sentence tortured, I've never heard Tolkien's defender's make such a claim, and I'm at least moderatly well read on the subject. [[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 17:41, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
:My experience says that when wikis say "defenders of A say B" it means "i am a defender of A, and my response to the criticism is B" ;) So that's what the editor was thinking.
:Since Gateway tolerates debates, even uncited ones, it's ok for me if the explanation stays there. It sounds valid if you ask me. [[User:Sage|Sage]] 19:05, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

:::I'm trying not to cut too much, but can we agree that statements supports by Tolkien's actual work should at least be more prominent than somewhat vague assertations of who among us editors thinks what, and we should do our best that any opinions left in the article should be written as clearly as possible?

:::The main problem with the synopsis is that it is NOT a synopsis. It does not summarize anything, it just presents a series of broad, unneccesarily verbose, and nearly meaningless comments, many of which are demonstrably false if we look at the books.19:38, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

== Good article ==

I see from the discussions above quite a lot of work has gone into this article. Now, reading it for the first time, it strikes me as being particularly full and well written (though not complete, and not completely sourced, as the tag says). I wonder, does the gateway have any mechanism for recognising good articles yet (like Wikipedia's featured article status)? --[[User:Aule the Smith|Aule the Smith]] 09:15, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

:You can suggest a page on [[USER:Ederchil|Ederchil]]'s talk page. And then (it should be) discussed in a TG meeting, or at least in the forum, IMHO. --[[User:Morgan|Morgan]] 09:26, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

::We do have [[Tolkien Gateway: Featured articles|Featured]]'s, but there's not much structure in that department. -- {{User:Ederchil/sig}} 09:27, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

== Many problems with the counter arguments ==

Now, I'm not saying Tolkien was a racist, nor am I here to "prove" he was. But as an avid fan (and seven-year enWikipedia editor with over 50,000 edits) I'm annoyed by inaccuracies. I'm an "entitled" white European guy with no agenda :). I was going through the "Counterindications" section, and here's a few problems I found:

*The symbolism of light over darkness does not "go back to Christianity" it goes even further back. And its not a tenet of "primitive" Christianity, as modern Christianity emphasizes the dichotomy as well.

*Yes, Morgoth was in the North, Sauron preferred the heat, but the concept that "The West" = Good is ubiquitous. (Again, I like this stuff about Tolkien, I'm just pointing out its misleading to imply geographic sides of the globe meant nothing).

*The Duunlendings were not Edain, and they were not descendants from the Men of Haleth. They belong to the same people, but did not enter Beleriand. (They are also very obviously intended to be Celtic people, Scotsmen/Picts probably.)

*@"the enemies are not truly evil", this may perhaps refer only to Men, not to Orcs, but really it just isn't true. Yes, Faramir "wonders" whether the man was deceived or coerced, but the Men of the South and East are consistently portrayed as evil, the "Cruel Haradrim" e.g.

*@"many of the 'white' Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings."?? Really? Who? There are no Men there but the Dunlendings, i.e. Men of their "type" (Breelanders = civilized Dunlendings).

*The features of the Haradrim are indeed described, as "dark". Not implying this means they were black people, but at the very least this indicates their hair was dark. Black people were probably "Troll-Men out of the Far Harad".. is that bit mentioned here? ("'''And out of the Far Harad black men like half-trolls...'''")

*@"There are no truly 'perfect' peoples in Tolkien's writings". Yes there are. The blond Vanyar. And probably the Teleri in Aman... Or really all Elves besides the Noldor.

*Yes, the Dunedain do not have modern-day analogues, but the Middle Men do. And besides, by the time of LotR the Men of Gondor also became Middle by Faramir's own estimate. The whole point there is that the Middle Men are "superior" to the Low. It doesn't help at all to point out that the High are no longer there..

Then there are further issues with the "Light vs Dark" section. Yes, Saruman does still use a White Hand, but he himself has discarded white as his colour when he became evil, and is explicitly criticized by Gandalf for that. That he still uses a white hand symbol is really of little consequence. Unlike the movies, in the book he becomes "Saruman the Many-Coloured" when he turns evil. I don't think this is a relevant argument.

The black field upon which the White Tree is superimposed probably symbolizes the darkness that surrounds the tree. Which is white. Also the flag of the Stewards was white without charge. This too doesn't seem like a very relevant argument.

The "ruffians" are described at various points as being half-orcs, or as having orc blood. Their being white is merely assumed, too, so I don't think its a worth trying to draw something out of this. [[Special:Contributions/94.253.247.194|94.253.247.194]] 13:40, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

:: Er... "The West = Good is ubiquitous" - Many medieval ''mappa mundi'' have the East placed at their top, in the direction of Eden or Paradise. In Tolkien's legendarium, Elves and Men originated in the East. Is there really such a thing as an ubiquitous West=Good? [[User:Drakon|Drakon]] 14:49, 15 March 2014 (UTC)
::: I meant in Tolkien's legendarium, ofc. In the real world you'll find ten cultures for every side of the globe :).
::: Yes, Humans and Elves originated in the east, and then moved towards the "light in the West". Wouldn't be much of a story if they just appeared at the good place from the start, would it? [[Special:Contributions/94.253.247.194|94.253.247.194]] 15:37, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Further point: "during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy". Who? Well technically the Southrons and the Easterlings are "white", in the sense that they're not Black people or Asians. But of the Edain, there are none besides the Numenoreans that became evil... [[Special:Contributions/94.253.247.194|94.253.247.194]] 13:17, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

:It needs sources, but mass deletion doesn't solve anything. I restored most, but kept several of your changes. --{{User:Ederchil/sig}} 13:39, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

::Well, generally, if its unsourced - it can go. [[Special:Contributions/109.60.44.87|109.60.44.87]] 20:53, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

:::Generally, if it's unsourced, it should be checked. --{{User:Ederchil/sig}} 21:16, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

::::If its unsourced, you request sources on talk, and if none are given - you can delete. Or you can delete right away if you like.. Those are basically the guidelines at enWiki. [[Special:Contributions/109.60.44.87|109.60.44.87]] 23:47, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

==Sources & quotes==

*On the question of allegory and "critics who tried to reduce the War of the Rings to an analog of World War II with Hitler as Sauron the Dark Lord. 'Hitler wasn't big enough! He wasn't important enough!' [Tolkien] told us, which was, perhaps, to say that Hitler was not mythic...". (as reported by Mrs Scott in ''[[Eglerio! In Praise of Tolkien]]'').
*From lecture notes in Tolkien's unpublished papers in the Bodleian and quoted in Stuart Lee's article on Tolkien and ''The Wanderer'' in [[Tolkien Studies 6|''Tolkien Studies'' VI]] (2009, p. 195): "I am not a simplifier, dealing with plain polemic discussions in Nordic and Latin, civilized and savage... I only warn you in case you should suspect that I was a secret Nazi and had gone all Nordic, because I wish to emphasize certain things which the bewildered and tragic nonsense talked in modern Germany has made suspect. Believe me I hate it ..." (later crossed through by Tolkien).

These two quotes were [https://www.facebook.com/groups/484971415020402/permalink/487785364739007/ noted by Alan Reynolds] (20 February 2016) in the group "Confirming J.R.R. Tolkien Quotations" at Facebook.--[[User:Morgan|Morgan]] 08:04, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

== Seek and you shall find ==

This is a non-canonical and post-modern / critical theoretical interpretation of Tolkien's work. The entire page is derivative and does not contribute to deeper understandings of Tolkien's explicit and exposed narrative work.

To follow this rabbit hole, we can may also create the following - legitimate - pages for public view:
* "The Racism of Gandalf in Siding with 'Good'"
* "Geo-Racial under-representation in the geography of The Lord of The Rings"
* "Systemic Gender Bias in Determining Characters of Importance in The Lord of The Rings"
* "The Problem of Fat-shaming & Dwarves"
{{unsigned|ThePatchGuy}}

:Seek and you shall find that this article is within the categories [[:Category:Debates|Debates]] and [[:Category:Tolkien criticism|Tolkien Gateway research]]. There is no claim for this being canonical, but there is a lack of sources, as it is indicated above the article. Feel free to write articles about the topics you mention, the admins will decide if it is pertinent to have them or not. --[[User:LorenzoCB|LorenzoCB]] 07:33, 29 July 2020 (UTC)

I believe this article needs to come under more scrutiny. There is no basis upon which to assign or allegorise the races of Tolkien's Middle-Earth to contemporary socio-political climates. It is a long bow to stretch the links between Tolkien's literature and implied or implicit "racism".

Talk:Racism

2020-07-29T06:55:00Z

ThePatchGuy: /* Seek and you shall find */

Talk:Racism

2020-07-29T06:54:22Z

ThePatchGuy: /* Seek and you shall find */ new section

== This page simply can't remain as it is ==
This page simply can't remain as it is - it is based largely on opinion and is often just plain incorrect (such as references to allegory and orcs being dark-skinned). What should be done? Should there be a deletion, or should the evidence for both sides be presented in a less opinionated manner? --[[User:Narfil Palùrfalas|Narfil Palùrfalas]] 20:49, 15 April 2008 (EDT)

:Agree This is load of crap that Tolkien himself addressed racism in his letters, and said that he wasn't and that the idea was ludicrous. DELETE IT! --[[User:Dwarf Lord|Dwarf Lord]] 21:30, 15 April 2008 (EDT)

::I say: don't delete it. We could improve it as a refutation (rename as "Perceived Racism in Tolkien's Works" or something); it is clear that Hippy never read the letters. There are, on various spots on the net, refutations ([http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist this one] for example, or [http://imdb.com/name/nm0866058/board/nest/4761136 this] could be used to "harvest" stuff for the article). As we are an Encyclopedia that covers more than just the text-internal elements, ignoring perceived racism would be bad form. The problem with books is, kinda like feminist book reports (nothing personal), that if you want a book to have a certain bias, you will obviously "find" "clear evidence" through cherry picking of that bias, blatantly ignoring anything that does not match your already fixed conclusion. It's called confirmation bias, the bane of reason. -- [[User:Ederchil|Ederchil]] 03:27, 16 April 2008 (EDT)
::PS Speaking of feminism, should we have a "perceived anti-feminism in Tolkien's works" too?
::Edit: [http://www.tolkiengesellschaft.de/v4/alleszutolkien/news/news20030103.shtml This] has some useful sources on extreme right use!

::: I dont think this page should be deleted because it brings up some interesting issues and to ignore them would be to cover up a potentially less desirable angle on Tolkien's works. To ignore it would be to foist modern political trend onto a work that is, from a certain angle fundamentally racist. I agree with Ederchil that it should however be presented as a balanced argument with no real conclusion one way or another. [[User:Dr Death|Dr Death]] 05:35, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

::::You obviously haven't read the letters Death. I believe having a balanced page with no real conclusion is, no offense, a ridiculous idea. There is a final answer to this and that is Tolkien based the Evil Men on Africans, Arabs, and possibly Asians. So what! This would be a non-issue if we were talking about Black Numenoreans, and the Fallen Numenoreans of the Second Age. --[[User:Dwarf Lord|Dwarf Lord]] 18:13, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

:::::Let me start off my reply by stating, as I think we all agree, the current content on the article definitely needs to be rewritten entirely, and should obviously include the several quotations by Tolkien on this matter. [http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=racism+tolkien&btnG=Google+Search tolkien and racism] brings up over 100,000 results on Google; this subject is something which has been discussed frequently and I think an article on racist elements in Tolkien's works (as well as the un-racist reasonings) is more than welcome on the wiki. I do agree with Ederchil that a more neural title may be necessary but for now it is probably fine. Dwarf Lord, I don't think anyone here is arguing that Tolkien is a racist, there's a lot of information out there on this subject so why not gather it all together so fans can read all the facts. Simply deleting a controversial article is only going to leave more people uninformed. --[[User:Hyarion|Hyarion]] 21:15, 16 April 2008 (EDT)

:::: Not so obviously Dwarflord as i have in fact read them. While you may think that one line in a book is enough to base an argument on i assure you it is not and i think as Hyarion says the issue does need to be addressed since there is so much said and written about it. I myself would not call Tolkien a racist by the standards of the time, however to modern readers his views may be considered that way and so as a reliable and open source of Tolkien knowledge we should be willing to face those accusations and provide the facts of the issue allowing the readers to make up their own minds. No need to be rude and confrontational about it and cast aspersions on my (i think you'll agree)excellent knowledge of the subject. [[User:Dr Death|Dr Death]] 05:34, 17 April 2008 (EDT)

:::: I just made the article so that the issue could be addressed. I relied on the other nerds of this site to flesh it out and make it less biased. I basically just wrote down all the racist shit I could think of in Tolkien's works and waited until other people made it better. Which you have, so thank you. And thanks to this page, I believe that Tolkien Gateway is now a more well-rounded site. [[User:TheOneCleanHippy|TheOneCleanHippy]] 05:13, 12 July 2008 (EDT)

==The Rewrite==
Or, less talk, more action.
As for Hyar's google search, we're currently 4th ranked. Above us, it's a 1,5-1,5 draw. So here's some suggestions as to what the article should (IMHO) have:
*More neutral name
*Introduction
*Use of Tolkien's work by Extreme right groups (BNP et al.).
*Claims and refutations. This should by generalized into things as "Racism", "Nordicism", not a point by point ragtag analysis of "Dark bad, white good".
*There's a good quote against the nordicism claim in Letter 294. Racism has four hits in the index. Letter 30, Letter 61, Letter 81 and once again 294. It's basically about Nazi Übermensch doctrine and Apartheid, and he clearly states he's "appalled by thinking in colour".
*As for racial purity, [[Kin-strife]], much? Snaga, much?
*A certain temporal relativity should be clear throughout the article. To today's western standards, Tolkien was a racist. But in his time, he wasn't. Same goes for people famed for being not racists like Lincoln and Darwin.
*We should mention Stephen Shapiro's claims - the top google rank. Reading the article makes me wonder whether we read the same book. His claim of the "uber-aryan fellowship" falls flat on its face. Rediff is an Indian site (target audience?), Shapiro is into ''"writing and culture of the United States, particularly the pre-twentieth century period; Cultural Studies; literary theory; historical formations of gender and sexuality; marxism, world-systems analyses; urban and spatial studies, and critiques of the bourgeois lifeworld as a mental disease. More broadly, late Enlightenment, 19 and 20/21C narrative"''[http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/people/academic/shapirodrstephen/]; he's neither a linguist (who would not use "Aryan" in that sense) nor a Tolkien scholar.
*Links to other sites like [http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html] and [http://www.tolkiengesellschaft.de/v4/alleszutolkien/news/news20030103.shtml] (more shapiro), maybe some others that are above-blog entry level, maybe something from the Tolkien Estate (the site is minimal at the moment).

Anyone has any other ideas? -- [[User:Ederchil|Ederchil]] 13:54, 18 April 2008 (EDT)

Late reply: Only today this article came to my attention. I pasted a great bulk of text that comes from a deleted Wikipedia article, unacceptable since it is Original Research and the claims are not easily verifiable. It still needs some cleanup since it contains many repetitions. I hope that helps [[User:Sage|Sage]] 11:30, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

I moved the article to a more neutral title. --[[User:Pinkkeith|Pinkkeith]] 15:12, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

==Evil Men==
I gutted the Evil Men section as it seemed (besided horribly worded) based primarily on the films. The Southrons are described as wearing bronze plate armor and riding horses, so it is erroneous to say they are clearly based on African tribes. There is also nothing fundamentally "Mongollian" or "Middle Eastern" about the Easterlings (which are two wildly different cultures and I'm not clear how one could be both at once).

An aknowledgement of their geography and skin colors is really the most accurate way of describing the unfortunate racist implications of the Haradrim and Easterlings. It is not the Professors fault if someone paints them as Aftican (although in the Jackson films, the Haradrim are inspired by South Pacific cultures).

This section seems out of place, and I have put all of the non-repetitive point into the 'indications' section.

The "Good Side" section was unsalvageable. Elves are not "general Europeans" (what does that even mean?) and The Rohan are clearly based on Anglo-Saxons, not the Norse. I suspect the original author doesn't know what 'fair' means, because most of the men of Gondor are not described as fair in the slightest. [[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 17:17, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
:I don't agree with the "gutation" of the section. The article is intended to include perceptions, even if wrong, to be refuted in the "Counterindications" section. The descriptions of swarthy men from the East and the South, the black-skinned orcs and their scimitars, bring mental images of AfroAsians, and are the most important contributor to the general accusations. What if the Haradrim wore bronze armor and rode horses? The mental image is already established by the average reader, who won't make a checklist for the historical/cultural dissimilarities. For example I never knew or cared whether Africans rode horses and this information didn't help me from envisioning the Southrons as Egyptians or Arabians. After all, Arabs were great riders, and aren't far from Africa.
:As for the Good people, TTT was perceived by critics as a war between the fair Nordic Aryan Rohirrim against the black Orcs. There is no point tracing whose fault is: the Professor's, Jackson's, the painters' or the viewers'. The perception and criticism are there, no matter how wrong or unfounded, and the article is meant to describe that they exist. [[User:Sage|Sage]] 19:04, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

:::If the case is to describe and refute unfounded views, then they should be described as such. "Perceived Racism in Adaptations of Tolkien" might be a better title because if we're talking about a vague 'general perception' then it has little to do with actual racism in Tolkien's work, which is a legitimate field of discussion, and mixing the two just makes the whole thing a mish-mash.

:::Regardless, "Evil Men" as it's own section seemed out of place, and I still think what was good in that section belongs in other sections
[[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 20:03, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
::::The "netral title" proposal is something discussed before, as I see above [[User:Sage|Sage]] 10:51, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

:::::The title is the least worry. The article is a general mish-mash of lgeitamate commentary on the work, vague perceptions, and weasly accusations.
The fact that YES the Haradrim are dark skinned and from the South is itself worth noting and discussing (and note I didn't cut the mention, just the unfounded speculation), but because you, me, or some other reader imagines Egyptians, Arabs, North Africans, West Africans, Zulus, Pygmies, or Indians is not itself worth mentioning. If I imagines the orcs as black or purple, and the Haradrim in zebra-skin or turbans, that has nothing to do with the actual work.

I've tried reorganizing some of the point and analysis, to make the article read less like a list of comments on a youtube video.
[[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 22:30, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

==Not Racism==
Unless a feudal society is fundamentally racist (a claim that seems foolish given that the king is king over his own race) to imply that all refrecnes to nobility and class stratification is racist seems like stretching. Likewise with any economic disparity in the Shire. The article is on racism, not on how Middle-Earth falls short of an egalitarian ideal and these seem out of the scope of this article. [[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 18:52, 15 January 2010 (UTC)
:Not strictly racist, but the reference to royalty is not a political reference to the feudal society or egalitarianism, but to the ideology. Royal lines in Tolkien are generally special and heirs have qualities above the norm showing therefore some genetic-based nobility. Excessive protagonism of Heirs is a ground of criticism by some "Tolkien is racist" critics. At least where I live, royalty is linked to the right-wing :) [[User:Sage|Sage]] 19:15, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

==Reorganization==
I've mosty reorganized, with minimal cutting (except of repeated info) or addition. The Indications/Counterindications format makes the article extremely difficlt to read, and gives the same weight to genuine things from the text (the untrustworthy Bill Fearny) and things people just seemed to have made-up. There are still a great man counterindications that I don't want to cut haphhazardly, but I have no idea how to present them more clearly or easier to read.

I've also cut a great deal of the Synopsis. It's extremely wordy and yet very vague, and makes sweeping generalizations that are uncited, such as ''Tolkien's defenders contend that the various "races" are exaggerated personifications of broadly accepted value judgements,'' Not only is that sentence tortured, I've never heard Tolkien's defender's make such a claim, and I'm at least moderatly well read on the subject. [[User:TheBoost|TheBoost]] 17:41, 19 January 2010 (UTC)
:My experience says that when wikis say "defenders of A say B" it means "i am a defender of A, and my response to the criticism is B" ;) So that's what the editor was thinking.
:Since Gateway tolerates debates, even uncited ones, it's ok for me if the explanation stays there. It sounds valid if you ask me. [[User:Sage|Sage]] 19:05, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

:::I'm trying not to cut too much, but can we agree that statements supports by Tolkien's actual work should at least be more prominent than somewhat vague assertations of who among us editors thinks what, and we should do our best that any opinions left in the article should be written as clearly as possible?

:::The main problem with the synopsis is that it is NOT a synopsis. It does not summarize anything, it just presents a series of broad, unneccesarily verbose, and nearly meaningless comments, many of which are demonstrably false if we look at the books.19:38, 19 January 2010 (UTC)

== Good article ==

I see from the discussions above quite a lot of work has gone into this article. Now, reading it for the first time, it strikes me as being particularly full and well written (though not complete, and not completely sourced, as the tag says). I wonder, does the gateway have any mechanism for recognising good articles yet (like Wikipedia's featured article status)? --[[User:Aule the Smith|Aule the Smith]] 09:15, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

:You can suggest a page on [[USER:Ederchil|Ederchil]]'s talk page. And then (it should be) discussed in a TG meeting, or at least in the forum, IMHO. --[[User:Morgan|Morgan]] 09:26, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

::We do have [[Tolkien Gateway: Featured articles|Featured]]'s, but there's not much structure in that department. -- {{User:Ederchil/sig}} 09:27, 25 July 2010 (UTC)

== Many problems with the counter arguments ==

Now, I'm not saying Tolkien was a racist, nor am I here to "prove" he was. But as an avid fan (and seven-year enWikipedia editor with over 50,000 edits) I'm annoyed by inaccuracies. I'm an "entitled" white European guy with no agenda :). I was going through the "Counterindications" section, and here's a few problems I found:

*The symbolism of light over darkness does not "go back to Christianity" it goes even further back. And its not a tenet of "primitive" Christianity, as modern Christianity emphasizes the dichotomy as well.

*Yes, Morgoth was in the North, Sauron preferred the heat, but the concept that "The West" = Good is ubiquitous. (Again, I like this stuff about Tolkien, I'm just pointing out its misleading to imply geographic sides of the globe meant nothing).

*The Duunlendings were not Edain, and they were not descendants from the Men of Haleth. They belong to the same people, but did not enter Beleriand. (They are also very obviously intended to be Celtic people, Scotsmen/Picts probably.)

*@"the enemies are not truly evil", this may perhaps refer only to Men, not to Orcs, but really it just isn't true. Yes, Faramir "wonders" whether the man was deceived or coerced, but the Men of the South and East are consistently portrayed as evil, the "Cruel Haradrim" e.g.

*@"many of the 'white' Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings."?? Really? Who? There are no Men there but the Dunlendings, i.e. Men of their "type" (Breelanders = civilized Dunlendings).

*The features of the Haradrim are indeed described, as "dark". Not implying this means they were black people, but at the very least this indicates their hair was dark. Black people were probably "Troll-Men out of the Far Harad".. is that bit mentioned here? ("'''And out of the Far Harad black men like half-trolls...'''")

*@"There are no truly 'perfect' peoples in Tolkien's writings". Yes there are. The blond Vanyar. And probably the Teleri in Aman... Or really all Elves besides the Noldor.

*Yes, the Dunedain do not have modern-day analogues, but the Middle Men do. And besides, by the time of LotR the Men of Gondor also became Middle by Faramir's own estimate. The whole point there is that the Middle Men are "superior" to the Low. It doesn't help at all to point out that the High are no longer there..

Then there are further issues with the "Light vs Dark" section. Yes, Saruman does still use a White Hand, but he himself has discarded white as his colour when he became evil, and is explicitly criticized by Gandalf for that. That he still uses a white hand symbol is really of little consequence. Unlike the movies, in the book he becomes "Saruman the Many-Coloured" when he turns evil. I don't think this is a relevant argument.

The black field upon which the White Tree is superimposed probably symbolizes the darkness that surrounds the tree. Which is white. Also the flag of the Stewards was white without charge. This too doesn't seem like a very relevant argument.

The "ruffians" are described at various points as being half-orcs, or as having orc blood. Their being white is merely assumed, too, so I don't think its a worth trying to draw something out of this. [[Special:Contributions/94.253.247.194|94.253.247.194]] 13:40, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

:: Er... "The West = Good is ubiquitous" - Many medieval ''mappa mundi'' have the East placed at their top, in the direction of Eden or Paradise. In Tolkien's legendarium, Elves and Men originated in the East. Is there really such a thing as an ubiquitous West=Good? [[User:Drakon|Drakon]] 14:49, 15 March 2014 (UTC)
::: I meant in Tolkien's legendarium, ofc. In the real world you'll find ten cultures for every side of the globe :).
::: Yes, Humans and Elves originated in the east, and then moved towards the "light in the West". Wouldn't be much of a story if they just appeared at the good place from the start, would it? [[Special:Contributions/94.253.247.194|94.253.247.194]] 15:37, 15 March 2014 (UTC)

Further point: "during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy". Who? Well technically the Southrons and the Easterlings are "white", in the sense that they're not Black people or Asians. But of the Edain, there are none besides the Numenoreans that became evil... [[Special:Contributions/94.253.247.194|94.253.247.194]] 13:17, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

:It needs sources, but mass deletion doesn't solve anything. I restored most, but kept several of your changes. --{{User:Ederchil/sig}} 13:39, 17 March 2014 (UTC)

::Well, generally, if its unsourced - it can go. [[Special:Contributions/109.60.44.87|109.60.44.87]] 20:53, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

:::Generally, if it's unsourced, it should be checked. --{{User:Ederchil/sig}} 21:16, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

::::If its unsourced, you request sources on talk, and if none are given - you can delete. Or you can delete right away if you like.. Those are basically the guidelines at enWiki. [[Special:Contributions/109.60.44.87|109.60.44.87]] 23:47, 20 March 2014 (UTC)

==Sources & quotes==

*On the question of allegory and "critics who tried to reduce the War of the Rings to an analog of World War II with Hitler as Sauron the Dark Lord. 'Hitler wasn't big enough! He wasn't important enough!' [Tolkien] told us, which was, perhaps, to say that Hitler was not mythic...". (as reported by Mrs Scott in ''[[Eglerio! In Praise of Tolkien]]'').
*From lecture notes in Tolkien's unpublished papers in the Bodleian and quoted in Stuart Lee's article on Tolkien and ''The Wanderer'' in [[Tolkien Studies 6|''Tolkien Studies'' VI]] (2009, p. 195): "I am not a simplifier, dealing with plain polemic discussions in Nordic and Latin, civilized and savage... I only warn you in case you should suspect that I was a secret Nazi and had gone all Nordic, because I wish to emphasize certain things which the bewildered and tragic nonsense talked in modern Germany has made suspect. Believe me I hate it ..." (later crossed through by Tolkien).

These two quotes were [https://www.facebook.com/groups/484971415020402/permalink/487785364739007/ noted by Alan Reynolds] (20 February 2016) in the group "Confirming J.R.R. Tolkien Quotations" at Facebook.--[[User:Morgan|Morgan]] 08:04, 7 December 2016 (UTC)

== Seek and you shall find ==

This is a non-canonical and post-modern / critical theoretical interpretation of Tolkien's work. The entire page is derivative and does not contribute to deeper understandings of Tolkien's explicit and exposed narrative work.

To follow this rabbit hole, we can may also create the following - legitimate - pages for public view:
* Bulleted list item "The Racism of Gandalf in Siding with 'Good'"
* Bulleted list item "Geo-Racial under-representation in the geography of The Lord of The Rings"
* Bulleted list item "Systemic Gender Bias in Determining Characters of Importance in The Lord of The Rings"
* Bulleted list item "The Problem of Fat-shaming & Dwarves"

Racism

2020-07-29T06:46:20Z

ThePatchGuy: Edits to grammar and major edit to non-cited and tangential study into 'racism'; judged non-contributory of overall work of The Lord of The Rings and derivative of earlier French studies engaging in critical theory.

{{sources}}
{{quote|For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own.|David Ibata, ''Chicago Tribune''<ref>http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story</ref>}}

[[File:The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Haradrim.jpg|thumb|225px|''[[Haradrim]]'' from [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]]]
[[Image:John Howe - Easterlings.jpg|thumb|[[John Howe]] - ''Easterlings'']]

Some fans and critics of Tolkien's works could observe several ambiguously '''Racist and race-based elements'''; these go further into stereotyping or the symbolism of good versus evil in the Tolkien's [[legendarium]]. Though the latter is a more canonically valid and established area of study, as early as the first edition of the Lord of the Rings the topic of 'race' has been discussed, including by [[C.S. Lewis]].citation needed]

In the Foreword to the revised edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself. Furthermore, according to his own claims, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and apartheid and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below). Tolkien can therefore be described as an author whose messages, allegories (or lack-thereof), and agendas as being set aside from the social-political domain and entirely focused within a fantasy-fiction context.

Notwithstanding, [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] has done much to perpetuate recent popular interest in, as well as criticism of, Tolkien's writing.

==Indications==

===Orcs===
The mostly white Free Peoples of Middle-Earth doing battle with the hordes of beast-like orcs is seen by some as an indication of racism.

Of the orcs, the [[Uruk-Hai]] are described as "black <ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book two chapter 5: ''"some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor"'' and appendix A: ''"In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor"''</ref> and a smaller orc, a tracker, is described as "black-skinned".<ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book six chapter 2 ''"it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind."''</ref> All orcs are often described as "slant-eyed" and the Uruk-Hai at least refer to the Rohirrim as 'white skins.' In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as ''"...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."''([[Letter 210]])

While Tolkien's statement comparing Orcs to the "Mongol-types" is undoubtedly insensitive given today's standards, he does put a disclaimer, "(to Europeans,)" before "least lovely", at least recognizing Western cultural bias and also points out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". It is worth noting that some Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term scimitar, which are historically associated with the Middle-East).

Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.

===Light vs. Dark===
Some critics have declared that there is racism in Tolkien's works through his use of the words such as "light" and "white" vs. "dark" or "black". In 2002, John Yatt in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "White men are good, 'dark' men are bad, orcs are worst of all."<ref>The Guardian (2 December 2002)</ref>. Other critics such as [[Tom Shippey]] and [[Michael D.C. Drout]] disagree with such clear-cut generalizations of Tolkien's "white" and "dark" men into good and bad.

The whole of Tolkien's Legendarium contains a conflict between ''literal'' light (The Trees, the [[Silmarils]]) and darkness (the literal absence of light). Morgoth's standard was ''"sable unblazoned"'' (that is, plain black). ''"Mordor"'' means "black land" in Sindarin. This ongoing clash may be interpreted as containing racial symbolism of light skinned versus dark skinned peoples, although Eol, father of Maeglin was known as the Dark Elf, and the Moriquendi were called the Elves of Darkness, although both these terms refer to remaining outside the light of the two trees, not to skin tone. The [[Black Númenóreans]] are likewise named because of the color of their allegiance to Sauron and their heraldry, not their skin tone.

But white is not associated only with Good. [[Saruman]] the White has the [[White Hand]] as his symbol. Similarly black is not only associated with evil as Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth]], three Númenórean ships are followed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the ''Black Enemy'') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.

===Evil Men===
One potentially racist element in Middle-Earth is that the majority of the men who serve Sauron are the dark-skinned peoples of the [[Easterlings (First Age)|Easterling]]s and [[Southrons]]. They come from the South and East of Middle-Earth, corresponding with Asia and Africa in the loose connection between Middle-Earth geography and that of the real world.
The Easterlings are aligned with Morgoth or Sauron with the exception of Bór's folk. They are described as being of fairly dark skin complexion, swarthy and exceedingly cruel. The Southrons (or Haradrim) are described as black-skinned, cruel and evil, and are apparently at least inspired by Indian cultures with traits such as fighting on [[Mumakil]]-back.

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like [[Freca]] and [[Wulf]], who are related to the [[Dunlendings]], are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark). Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, and this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry.

While the Easterlings and the Haradrim are dark-skinned people in the service of the Enemy, the [[Woses]] are primitive, small, and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghan-buri-Ghan only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in ''The Return of the King''). While Tolkien does not mention their skin colour, they were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative explicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as ''Edain'', or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.

However, not all enemies are non-white. Noteworthy examples are Saruman, [[Gríma]], [[Gollum]], and at least two of the [[Nazgûl]]. Also [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] and the [[ruffians]] are white-skinned characters who ravage and take over [[the Shire]]. Indeed, while during the timeframe of Lord of the Rings those enslaved and serving Sauron are darker skinned people from the South and East, during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy.

Tolkien also wrote that the [[Blue Wizards]], who do not appear in '''The Lord of the Rings'' narrative, were sent into the South and East lands to spread dissent and resistance against Sauron. While he wrote on one occasion (as given in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'') that they failed, on another occasion (as given in ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]'') he wrote that they were successful, making Sauron's hold on these lands throughout the centuries significantly weaker than it should have been. This prevented Sauron from overwhelming the West with his armies and ultimately contributed to his defeat in the War of the Ring. This means that Southrons and Easterlings resisting Sauron were meant to exist, only that their stories remain untold.

===Racism in Middle-earth===
Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the [[Woses]]. The friendship between [[Legolas]] and [[Gimli]] is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences. When [[Gimli]] takes a strand of [[Galadriel]]'s hair, he is described as having ''"look[ed] into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding."''

It is notable that there is apparently racism within the ranks of Orcs as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called ''snaga'' (slave).

The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them. They are not without prejudice, however, and Gandalf is shown reprimanding Frodo for his comments on [[Barliman Butterbur]].

The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the [[Kin-strife]]), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir]] while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar (King of Gondor)|Eldacar]].

===Dwarves as Jews===

Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
{{quote|"The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."|J.R.R. Tolkien<ref>http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm</ref>}}
One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language [[Khuzdul]] to Semitic languages. In another letter, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[Letter 176]])

Throughout the books, Tolkien paints a mostly positive picture of the dwarves ([[Gimli]] of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jewish people.

However, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings]]. Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. It is also possible to draw a connection between the bearded Dwarves and the beards of Orthodox Jews.

===Númenóreans===

Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people]] who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor. It should be also noted that according to Theosophy, Ariosophy and Nazism<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Occultism</ref>, the Aryan race is supposedly descended from [[Atlantis]].<ref>Alfred Rosenberg, [[Wikipedia:The_Myth_of_the_Twentieth_Century|The Myth of the Twentieth Century]]</ref>

Although gifted, many of Tolkien's Númenóreans are evil. In the Appendices to the Return of the King, Númenórean fleets sail to Middle Earth, where they conquer and subjugate native peoples in what may be a commentary on European imperialism. The Númenóreans ultimately cause their own downfall by following the teachings of Morgoth, conducting human sacrifices, and making war on Valinor. At least three of the Nazgûl are Númenóreans.

==Counterindications==
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism leveled at ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.

*The symbolism of light as good and dark as evil is a prehistoric dichotomy present in a great many cultures, Western and otherwise. It is also a part of Christianity (John 8:12 Jesus Christ said, "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."). Variations such as the Manicheeist heresy and further the ancient religion of Persia - Zoroastrianism.

*Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote ''The Lord of the Rings'' according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.

*Tolkien only made precise ''geographic'' correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, [[Hobbiton]] was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but ''was not actually'' rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the ''peoples'' concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. ''The Silmarillion'' presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.

*Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband]]. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west).

*The white but darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain]] (through the [[House of Haleth]]), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dunedain of Numenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dunedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.

*In the War of the Ring, the human enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Numenoreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.

*Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in ''The Lord of the Rings''; however the Easterlings of ''The Silmarillion'' are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings.

*Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum]]), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical sub-Saharan African features.

*All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dunedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dunedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in [[Atlantis]], since Numenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to Plato's Atlantis. The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.

*Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, [[Samwise Gamgee]] represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.

*There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings, save perhaps the [[Vanyar]]. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Numenoreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.

==''Lord of the Rings'' and Fascism==

In Italy, ''Lord of the Rings'' is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting.<ref>http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm</ref> According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet], [[Wikipedia:Alleanza Nazionale|Alleanza Nazionale]], a right-oriented Italian political party, had taken a picture from ''Fellowship of the Ring'' movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Wikipedia:Gianfranco Fini|Gianfranco Fini]].<ref>http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604</ref>

Tolkien's works have also been embraced by self-admitted racists such as the British National Party.<ref>The Sunday Times - [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article804465.ece The BNP has declared Lord of the Rings essential reading. They’re not the only extremists to get the wrong idea]</ref>

However, Tolkien himself stated in a letter to his son in 1943 that ''My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)-or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy.'' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) [https://rodbenson.com/2011/08/20/tolkien-on-anarchism/]. Thus this makes any notion of Tolkien being fascist defunct.

==Relevant Passages from the text==
{{quote|It is not unlikely that they <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Orcs]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them"|''[[The Hobbit]]'', "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"}}

{{quote|It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.|''[[The Two Towers]]'', "[[Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit]]"}}

==Tolkien on Racism==
{{quote|I must say that the enclosed letter from Rutten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any ''Bestätigung'' (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.|[[Letter 29]] — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin}}

{{quote|Thank you for your letter... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ''arisch''. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone [sic] of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.|[[Letter 30]] (Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)}}

{{quote|There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done.|J.R.R. Tolkien — September 23, 1944}}

{{quote|I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.|From a [[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford]] in [[1959]]}}

{{quote|As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long.|[[Letter 61]] — Written to Christopher Tolkien who was stationed in South Africa during World War II}}

{{quote|Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[Letter 45]]}}

==External links==

*[http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/11/29/is-it-true-there-is-racism-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/ Is It True There is Racism in The Lord of the Rings?] by [[Michael Martinez]]
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist Portion of a Tolkien FAQ attempting to give an answer to the matter]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm Critique of the Lord of the Rings as an 'epic rooted in racism' by Dr Shapiro]
*[http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-030112epringsrace,0,4574891.story 'Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory] by Chicago Tribune
{{references}}
[[Category:Debates]]
[[category:Tolkien criticism]]

Racism

2020-07-29T06:45:25Z

{{sources}}
{{quote|For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own.|David Ibata, ''Chicago Tribune''<ref>http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story</ref>}}

[[File:The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Haradrim.jpg|thumb|225px|''[[Haradrim]]'' from [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]]]
[[Image:John Howe - Easterlings.jpg|thumb|[[John Howe]] - ''Easterlings'']]

Some fans and critics of Tolkien's works could observe several ambiguously '''Racist and race-based elements'''; these go further into stereotyping or the symbolism of good versus evil in the Tolkien's [[legendarium]]. Though the latter is a more canonically valid and established area of study, as early as the first edition of the Lord of the Rings the topic of 'race' has been discussed, including by [[C.S. Lewis]].citation needed]

[[Christine Chism]] mentions the issue of racism in the ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', where she distinguishes accusations as falling into three categories: intentional racism, unconscious [[Wikipedia:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] bias, and an evolution from latent racism in Tolkien's early work to a conscious rejection of racist tendencies in his late work.

In the Foreword to the revised edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself. Furthermore, according to his own claims, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and apartheid and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below). Tolkien can therefore be described as an author whose messages, allegories (or lack-thereof), and agendas as being set aside from the social-political domain and entirely focused within a fantasy-fiction context.

Notwithstanding, [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] has done much to perpetuate recent popular interest in, as well as criticism of, Tolkien's writing.

==Indications==

===Orcs===
The mostly white Free Peoples of Middle-Earth doing battle with the hordes of beast-like orcs is seen by some as an indication of racism.

Of the orcs, the [[Uruk-Hai]] are described as "black <ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book two chapter 5: ''"some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor"'' and appendix A: ''"In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor"''</ref> and a smaller orc, a tracker, is described as "black-skinned".<ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book six chapter 2 ''"it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind."''</ref> All orcs are often described as "slant-eyed" and the Uruk-Hai at least refer to the Rohirrim as 'white skins.' In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as ''"...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."''([[Letter 210]])

While Tolkien's statement comparing Orcs to the "Mongol-types" is undoubtedly insensitive given today's standards, he does put a disclaimer, "(to Europeans,)" before "least lovely", at least recognizing Western cultural bias and also points out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". It is worth noting that some Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term scimitar, which are historically associated with the Middle-East).

Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.

===Light vs. Dark===
Some critics have declared that there is racism in Tolkien's works through his use of the words such as "light" and "white" vs. "dark" or "black". In 2002, John Yatt in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "White men are good, 'dark' men are bad, orcs are worst of all."<ref>The Guardian (2 December 2002)</ref>. Other critics such as [[Tom Shippey]] and [[Michael D.C. Drout]] disagree with such clear-cut generalizations of Tolkien's "white" and "dark" men into good and bad.

The whole of Tolkien's Legendarium contains a conflict between ''literal'' light (The Trees, the [[Silmarils]]) and darkness (the literal absence of light). Morgoth's standard was ''"sable unblazoned"'' (that is, plain black). ''"Mordor"'' means "black land" in Sindarin. This ongoing clash may be interpreted as containing racial symbolism of light skinned versus dark skinned peoples, although Eol, father of Maeglin was known as the Dark Elf, and the Moriquendi were called the Elves of Darkness, although both these terms refer to remaining outside the light of the two trees, not to skin tone. The [[Black Númenóreans]] are likewise named because of the color of their allegiance to Sauron and their heraldry, not their skin tone.

But white is not associated only with Good. [[Saruman]] the White has the [[White Hand]] as his symbol. Similarly black is not only associated with evil as Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth]], three Númenórean ships are followed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the ''Black Enemy'') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.

===Evil Men===
One potentially racist element in Middle-Earth is that the majority of the men who serve Sauron are the dark-skinned peoples of the [[Easterlings (First Age)|Easterling]]s and [[Southrons]]. They come from the South and East of Middle-Earth, corresponding with Asia and Africa in the loose connection between Middle-Earth geography and that of the real world.
The Easterlings are aligned with Morgoth or Sauron with the exception of Bór's folk. They are described as being of fairly dark skin complexion, swarthy and exceedingly cruel. The Southrons (or Haradrim) are described as black-skinned, cruel and evil, and are apparently at least inspired by Indian cultures with traits such as fighting on [[Mumakil]]-back.

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like [[Freca]] and [[Wulf]], who are related to the [[Dunlendings]], are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark). Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, and this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry.

While the Easterlings and the Haradrim are dark-skinned people in the service of the Enemy, the [[Woses]] are primitive, small, and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghan-buri-Ghan only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in ''The Return of the King''). While Tolkien does not mention their skin colour, they were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative explicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as ''Edain'', or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.

However, not all enemies are non-white. Noteworthy examples are Saruman, [[Gríma]], [[Gollum]], and at least two of the [[Nazgûl]]. Also [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] and the [[ruffians]] are white-skinned characters who ravage and take over [[the Shire]]. Indeed, while during the timeframe of Lord of the Rings those enslaved and serving Sauron are darker skinned people from the South and East, during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy.

Tolkien also wrote that the [[Blue Wizards]], who do not appear in '''The Lord of the Rings'' narrative, were sent into the South and East lands to spread dissent and resistance against Sauron. While he wrote on one occasion (as given in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'') that they failed, on another occasion (as given in ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]'') he wrote that they were successful, making Sauron's hold on these lands throughout the centuries significantly weaker than it should have been. This prevented Sauron from overwhelming the West with his armies and ultimately contributed to his defeat in the War of the Ring. This means that Southrons and Easterlings resisting Sauron were meant to exist, only that their stories remain untold.

===Racism in Middle-earth===
Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the [[Woses]]. The friendship between [[Legolas]] and [[Gimli]] is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences. When [[Gimli]] takes a strand of [[Galadriel]]'s hair, he is described as having ''"look[ed] into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding."''

It is notable that there is apparently racism within the ranks of Orcs as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called ''snaga'' (slave).

The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them. They are not without prejudice, however, and Gandalf is shown reprimanding Frodo for his comments on [[Barliman Butterbur]].

The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the [[Kin-strife]]), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir]] while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar (King of Gondor)|Eldacar]].

===Dwarves as Jews===

Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
{{quote|"The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."|J.R.R. Tolkien<ref>http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm</ref>}}
One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language [[Khuzdul]] to Semitic languages. In another letter, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[Letter 176]])

Throughout the books, Tolkien paints a mostly positive picture of the dwarves ([[Gimli]] of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jewish people.

However, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings]]. Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. It is also possible to draw a connection between the bearded Dwarves and the beards of Orthodox Jews.

===Númenóreans===

Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people]] who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor. It should be also noted that according to Theosophy, Ariosophy and Nazism<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Occultism</ref>, the Aryan race is supposedly descended from [[Atlantis]].<ref>Alfred Rosenberg, [[Wikipedia:The_Myth_of_the_Twentieth_Century|The Myth of the Twentieth Century]]</ref>

Although gifted, many of Tolkien's Númenóreans are evil. In the Appendices to the Return of the King, Númenórean fleets sail to Middle Earth, where they conquer and subjugate native peoples in what may be a commentary on European imperialism. The Númenóreans ultimately cause their own downfall by following the teachings of Morgoth, conducting human sacrifices, and making war on Valinor. At least three of the Nazgûl are Númenóreans.

==Counterindications==
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism leveled at ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.

*The symbolism of light as good and dark as evil is a prehistoric dichotomy present in a great many cultures, Western and otherwise. It is also a part of Christianity (John 8:12 Jesus Christ said, "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."). Variations such as the Manicheeist heresy and further the ancient religion of Persia - Zoroastrianism.

*Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote ''The Lord of the Rings'' according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.

*Tolkien only made precise ''geographic'' correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, [[Hobbiton]] was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but ''was not actually'' rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the ''peoples'' concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. ''The Silmarillion'' presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.

*Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband]]. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west).

*The white but darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain]] (through the [[House of Haleth]]), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dunedain of Numenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dunedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.

*In the War of the Ring, the human enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Numenoreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.

*Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in ''The Lord of the Rings''; however the Easterlings of ''The Silmarillion'' are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings.

*Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum]]), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical sub-Saharan African features.

*All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dunedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dunedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in [[Atlantis]], since Numenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to Plato's Atlantis. The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.

*Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, [[Samwise Gamgee]] represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.

*There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings, save perhaps the [[Vanyar]]. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Numenoreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.

==''Lord of the Rings'' and Fascism==

In Italy, ''Lord of the Rings'' is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting.<ref>http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm</ref> According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet], [[Wikipedia:Alleanza Nazionale|Alleanza Nazionale]], a right-oriented Italian political party, had taken a picture from ''Fellowship of the Ring'' movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Wikipedia:Gianfranco Fini|Gianfranco Fini]].<ref>http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604</ref>

Tolkien's works have also been embraced by self-admitted racists such as the British National Party.<ref>The Sunday Times - [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article804465.ece The BNP has declared Lord of the Rings essential reading. They’re not the only extremists to get the wrong idea]</ref>

However, Tolkien himself stated in a letter to his son in 1943 that ''My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)-or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy.'' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) [https://rodbenson.com/2011/08/20/tolkien-on-anarchism/]. Thus this makes any notion of Tolkien being fascist defunct.

==Relevant Passages from the text==
{{quote|It is not unlikely that they <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Orcs]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them"|''[[The Hobbit]]'', "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"}}

{{quote|It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.|''[[The Two Towers]]'', "[[Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit]]"}}

==Tolkien on Racism==
{{quote|I must say that the enclosed letter from Rutten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any ''Bestätigung'' (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.|[[Letter 29]] — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin}}

{{quote|Thank you for your letter... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ''arisch''. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone [sic] of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.|[[Letter 30]] (Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)}}

{{quote|There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done.|J.R.R. Tolkien — September 23, 1944}}

{{quote|I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.|From a [[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford]] in [[1959]]}}

{{quote|As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long.|[[Letter 61]] — Written to Christopher Tolkien who was stationed in South Africa during World War II}}

{{quote|Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[Letter 45]]}}

==External links==

*[http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/11/29/is-it-true-there-is-racism-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/ Is It True There is Racism in The Lord of the Rings?] by [[Michael Martinez]]
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist Portion of a Tolkien FAQ attempting to give an answer to the matter]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm Critique of the Lord of the Rings as an 'epic rooted in racism' by Dr Shapiro]
*[http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-030112epringsrace,0,4574891.story 'Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory] by Chicago Tribune
{{references}}
[[Category:Debates]]
[[category:Tolkien criticism]]

Racism

2020-07-29T06:36:51Z

ThePatchGuy: Editorial

{{sources}}
{{quote|For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own.|David Ibata, ''Chicago Tribune''<ref>http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story</ref>}}

[[File:The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Haradrim.jpg|thumb|225px|''[[Haradrim]]'' from [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]]]
[[Image:John Howe - Easterlings.jpg|thumb|[[John Howe]] - ''Easterlings'']]

Some fans and critics of Tolkien's works have could observe several ambiguously '''Racist and race-based elements'''; these go further into stereotyping or symbolism of good versus evil in the Tolkien's [[legendarium]]. As early as the first edition of the Lord of the Rings this topic was discussed, including by [[C.S. Lewis]].

Some of these accusations of racism may be partially explained by a wider reading of Tolkien's works, and others are more difficult to dismiss. In Tolkien's extensive letters one can find both comments that can be interpreted as racist as well as defence against the accusations.[citation needed]

[[Christine Chism]] mentions the issue of racism in the ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', where she distinguishes accusations as falling into three categories: intentional racism, unconscious [[Wikipedia:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] bias, and an evolution from latent racism in Tolkien's early work to a conscious rejection of racist tendencies in his late work.

In the Foreword to the revised edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself. Furthermore, according to his own claims, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and apartheid and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below). Tolkien can therefore be described as an author whose messages, allegories (or lack-thereof), and agendas as being set aside from the social-political domain and entirely focused within a fantasy-fiction context.

Notwithstanding, [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] has done much to perpetuate recent popular interest in, as well as criticism of, Tolkien's writing.

==Indications==

===Orcs===
The mostly white Free Peoples of Middle-Earth doing battle with the hordes of beast-like orcs is seen by some as an indication of racism.

Of the orcs, the [[Uruk-Hai]] are described as "black <ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book two chapter 5: ''"some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor"'' and appendix A: ''"In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor"''</ref> and a smaller orc, a tracker, is described as "black-skinned".<ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book six chapter 2 ''"it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind."''</ref> All orcs are often described as "slant-eyed" and the Uruk-Hai at least refer to the Rohirrim as 'white skins.' In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as ''"...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."''([[Letter 210]])

While Tolkien's statement comparing Orcs to the "Mongol-types" is undoubtedly insensitive given today's standards, he does put a disclaimer, "(to Europeans,)" before "least lovely", at least recognizing Western cultural bias and also points out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". It is worth noting that some Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term scimitar, which are historically associated with the Middle-East).

Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.

===Light vs. Dark===
Some critics have declared that there is racism in Tolkien's works through his use of the words such as "light" and "white" vs. "dark" or "black". In 2002, John Yatt in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "White men are good, 'dark' men are bad, orcs are worst of all."<ref>The Guardian (2 December 2002)</ref>. Other critics such as [[Tom Shippey]] and [[Michael D.C. Drout]] disagree with such clear-cut generalizations of Tolkien's "white" and "dark" men into good and bad.

The whole of Tolkien's Legendarium contains a conflict between ''literal'' light (The Trees, the [[Silmarils]]) and darkness (the literal absence of light). Morgoth's standard was ''"sable unblazoned"'' (that is, plain black). ''"Mordor"'' means "black land" in Sindarin. This ongoing clash may be interpreted as containing racial symbolism of light skinned versus dark skinned peoples, although Eol, father of Maeglin was known as the Dark Elf, and the Moriquendi were called the Elves of Darkness, although both these terms refer to remaining outside the light of the two trees, not to skin tone. The [[Black Númenóreans]] are likewise named because of the color of their allegiance to Sauron and their heraldry, not their skin tone.

But white is not associated only with Good. [[Saruman]] the White has the [[White Hand]] as his symbol. Similarly black is not only associated with evil as Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth]], three Númenórean ships are followed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the ''Black Enemy'') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.

===Evil Men===
One potentially racist element in Middle-Earth is that the majority of the men who serve Sauron are the dark-skinned peoples of the [[Easterlings (First Age)|Easterling]]s and [[Southrons]]. They come from the South and East of Middle-Earth, corresponding with Asia and Africa in the loose connection between Middle-Earth geography and that of the real world.
The Easterlings are aligned with Morgoth or Sauron with the exception of Bór's folk. They are described as being of fairly dark skin complexion, swarthy and exceedingly cruel. The Southrons (or Haradrim) are described as black-skinned, cruel and evil, and are apparently at least inspired by Indian cultures with traits such as fighting on [[Mumakil]]-back.

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like [[Freca]] and [[Wulf]], who are related to the [[Dunlendings]], are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark). Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, and this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry.

While the Easterlings and the Haradrim are dark-skinned people in the service of the Enemy, the [[Woses]] are primitive, small, and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghan-buri-Ghan only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in ''The Return of the King''). While Tolkien does not mention their skin colour, they were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative explicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as ''Edain'', or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.

However, not all enemies are non-white. Noteworthy examples are Saruman, [[Gríma]], [[Gollum]], and at least two of the [[Nazgûl]]. Also [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] and the [[ruffians]] are white-skinned characters who ravage and take over [[the Shire]]. Indeed, while during the timeframe of Lord of the Rings those enslaved and serving Sauron are darker skinned people from the South and East, during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy.

Tolkien also wrote that the [[Blue Wizards]], who do not appear in '''The Lord of the Rings'' narrative, were sent into the South and East lands to spread dissent and resistance against Sauron. While he wrote on one occasion (as given in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'') that they failed, on another occasion (as given in ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]'') he wrote that they were successful, making Sauron's hold on these lands throughout the centuries significantly weaker than it should have been. This prevented Sauron from overwhelming the West with his armies and ultimately contributed to his defeat in the War of the Ring. This means that Southrons and Easterlings resisting Sauron were meant to exist, only that their stories remain untold.

===Racism in Middle-earth===
Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the [[Woses]]. The friendship between [[Legolas]] and [[Gimli]] is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences. When [[Gimli]] takes a strand of [[Galadriel]]'s hair, he is described as having ''"look[ed] into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding."''

It is notable that there is apparently racism within the ranks of Orcs as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called ''snaga'' (slave).

The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them. They are not without prejudice, however, and Gandalf is shown reprimanding Frodo for his comments on [[Barliman Butterbur]].

The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the [[Kin-strife]]), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir]] while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar (King of Gondor)|Eldacar]].

===Dwarves as Jews===

Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
{{quote|"The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."|J.R.R. Tolkien<ref>http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm</ref>}}
One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language [[Khuzdul]] to Semitic languages. In another letter, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[Letter 176]])

Throughout the books, Tolkien paints a mostly positive picture of the dwarves ([[Gimli]] of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jewish people.

However, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings]]. Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. It is also possible to draw a connection between the bearded Dwarves and the beards of Orthodox Jews.

===Númenóreans===

Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people]] who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor. It should be also noted that according to Theosophy, Ariosophy and Nazism<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Occultism</ref>, the Aryan race is supposedly descended from [[Atlantis]].<ref>Alfred Rosenberg, [[Wikipedia:The_Myth_of_the_Twentieth_Century|The Myth of the Twentieth Century]]</ref>

Although gifted, many of Tolkien's Númenóreans are evil. In the Appendices to the Return of the King, Númenórean fleets sail to Middle Earth, where they conquer and subjugate native peoples in what may be a commentary on European imperialism. The Númenóreans ultimately cause their own downfall by following the teachings of Morgoth, conducting human sacrifices, and making war on Valinor. At least three of the Nazgûl are Númenóreans.

==Counterindications==
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism leveled at ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.

*The symbolism of light as good and dark as evil is a prehistoric dichotomy present in a great many cultures, Western and otherwise. It is also a part of Christianity (John 8:12 Jesus Christ said, "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."). Variations such as the Manicheeist heresy and further the ancient religion of Persia - Zoroastrianism.

*Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote ''The Lord of the Rings'' according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.

*Tolkien only made precise ''geographic'' correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, [[Hobbiton]] was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but ''was not actually'' rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the ''peoples'' concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. ''The Silmarillion'' presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.

*Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband]]. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west).

*The white but darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain]] (through the [[House of Haleth]]), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dunedain of Numenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dunedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.

*In the War of the Ring, the human enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Numenoreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.

*Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in ''The Lord of the Rings''; however the Easterlings of ''The Silmarillion'' are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings.

*Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum]]), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical sub-Saharan African features.

*All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dunedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dunedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in [[Atlantis]], since Numenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to Plato's Atlantis. The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.

*Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, [[Samwise Gamgee]] represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.

*There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings, save perhaps the [[Vanyar]]. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Numenoreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.

==''Lord of the Rings'' and Fascism==

In Italy, ''Lord of the Rings'' is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting.<ref>http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm</ref> According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet], [[Wikipedia:Alleanza Nazionale|Alleanza Nazionale]], a right-oriented Italian political party, had taken a picture from ''Fellowship of the Ring'' movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Wikipedia:Gianfranco Fini|Gianfranco Fini]].<ref>http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604</ref>

Tolkien's works have also been embraced by self-admitted racists such as the British National Party.<ref>The Sunday Times - [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article804465.ece The BNP has declared Lord of the Rings essential reading. They’re not the only extremists to get the wrong idea]</ref>

However, Tolkien himself stated in a letter to his son in 1943 that ''My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)-or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy.'' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) [https://rodbenson.com/2011/08/20/tolkien-on-anarchism/]. Thus this makes any notion of Tolkien being fascist defunct.

==Relevant Passages from the text==
{{quote|It is not unlikely that they <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Orcs]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them"|''[[The Hobbit]]'', "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"}}

{{quote|It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.|''[[The Two Towers]]'', "[[Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit]]"}}

==Tolkien on Racism==
{{quote|I must say that the enclosed letter from Rutten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any ''Bestätigung'' (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.|[[Letter 29]] — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin}}

{{quote|Thank you for your letter... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ''arisch''. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone [sic] of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.|[[Letter 30]] (Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)}}

{{quote|There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done.|J.R.R. Tolkien — September 23, 1944}}

{{quote|I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.|From a [[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford]] in [[1959]]}}

{{quote|As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long.|[[Letter 61]] — Written to Christopher Tolkien who was stationed in South Africa during World War II}}

{{quote|Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[Letter 45]]}}

==External links==

*[http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/11/29/is-it-true-there-is-racism-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/ Is It True There is Racism in The Lord of the Rings?] by [[Michael Martinez]]
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist Portion of a Tolkien FAQ attempting to give an answer to the matter]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm Critique of the Lord of the Rings as an 'epic rooted in racism' by Dr Shapiro]
*[http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-030112epringsrace,0,4574891.story 'Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory] by Chicago Tribune
{{references}}
[[Category:Debates]]
[[category:Tolkien criticism]]

Racism

2020-07-29T06:36:05Z

ThePatchGuy: Corrections to autho-legitimacy and some citation.

{{sources}}
{{quote|For years, Tolkien scholars have waged a fight on two fronts: against an academic establishment that for the most part refused to take the author's work seriously, and against white supremacists who have tried to claim the professor as one of their own.|David Ibata, ''Chicago Tribune''<ref>http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/movies/chi-030112epringsrace,0,341461.story</ref>}}

[[File:The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - Haradrim.jpg|thumb|225px|''[[Haradrim]]'' from [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]]]]
[[Image:John Howe - Easterlings.jpg|thumb|[[John Howe]] - ''Easterlings'']]

Some fans and critics of Tolkien's works have could observe several ambiguously '''Racist and race-based elements'''; these go further into stereotyping or symbolism of good versus evil in the Tolkien's [[legendarium]]. As early as the first edition of the Lord of the Rings this topic was discussed, including by [[C.S. Lewis]].

Some of these accusations of racism may be partially explained by a wider reading of Tolkien's works, and others are more difficult to dismiss. In Tolkien's extensive letters one can find both comments that can be interpreted as racism as well as defence against the accusations.[citation needed]

[[Christine Chism]] mentions the issue of racism in the ''[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment|J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]]'', where she distinguishes accusations as falling into three categories: intentional racism, unconscious [[Wikipedia:Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] bias, and an evolution from latent racism in Tolkien's early work to a conscious rejection of racist tendencies in his late work.

In the Foreword to the revised edition of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Tolkien cautioned strongly against viewing it as an allegory, saying that he disliked allegory himself. Furthermore, according to his own claims, Tolkien denounced Hitler, Nazi beliefs, "race-doctrine" and apartheid and praised the Jews, calling them a "gifted people" (see below). Tolkien can therefore be described as an author whose messages, allegories (or lack-thereof), and agendas as being set aside from the social-political domain and entirely focused within a fantasy-fiction context.

Notwithstanding, [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|''The Lord of the Rings'' (film series)]] has done much to perpetuate recent popular interest in, as well as criticism of, Tolkien's writing.

==Indications==

===Orcs===
The mostly white Free Peoples of Middle-Earth doing battle with the hordes of beast-like orcs is seen by some as an indication of racism.

Of the orcs, the [[Uruk-Hai]] are described as "black <ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book two chapter 5: ''"some are large and evil: black Uruks of Mordor"'' and appendix A: ''"In the last years of Denethor I the race of uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor"''</ref> and a smaller orc, a tracker, is described as "black-skinned".<ref>''The Lord of the Rings'' book six chapter 2 ''"it was of a small breed, black-skinned, with wide and snuffling nostrils: evidently a tracker of some kind."''</ref> All orcs are often described as "slant-eyed" and the Uruk-Hai at least refer to the Rohirrim as 'white skins.' In one of his letters, Tolkien described Orcs as ''"...squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes; in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types."''([[Letter 210]])

While Tolkien's statement comparing Orcs to the "Mongol-types" is undoubtedly insensitive given today's standards, he does put a disclaimer, "(to Europeans,)" before "least lovely", at least recognizing Western cultural bias and also points out that they were "degraded and repulsive versions" of "Mongol-types", not actual "Mongol-types". It is worth noting that some Orcs use crooked or bent swords (Tolkien also uses the term scimitar, which are historically associated with the Middle-East).

Orcs however, are not men. Unlike the wicked men who serve the Enemy, who might have been enslaved or beguiled, orcs are portrayed as irredeemably evil, or at least having a redemption outside the scope of the narrative. The origin of orcs is not clear, but they may be products of Morgoth's sorcery, or the descendants of tortured and ruined elves or men. Regardless of their origins they are not presented as a natural race.

===Light vs. Dark===
Some critics have declared that there is racism in Tolkien's works through his use of the words such as "light" and "white" vs. "dark" or "black". In 2002, John Yatt in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "White men are good, 'dark' men are bad, orcs are worst of all."<ref>The Guardian (2 December 2002)</ref>. Other critics such as [[Tom Shippey]] and [[Michael D.C. Drout]] disagree with such clear-cut generalizations of Tolkien's "white" and "dark" men into good and bad.

The whole of Tolkien's Legendarium contains a conflict between ''literal'' light (The Trees, the [[Silmarils]]) and darkness (the literal absence of light). Morgoth's standard was ''"sable unblazoned"'' (that is, plain black). ''"Mordor"'' means "black land" in Sindarin. This ongoing clash may be interpreted as containing racial symbolism of light skinned versus dark skinned peoples, although Eol, father of Maeglin was known as the Dark Elf, and the Moriquendi were called the Elves of Darkness, although both these terms refer to remaining outside the light of the two trees, not to skin tone. The [[Black Númenóreans]] are likewise named because of the color of their allegiance to Sauron and their heraldry, not their skin tone.

But white is not associated only with Good. [[Saruman]] the White has the [[White Hand]] as his symbol. Similarly black is not only associated with evil as Gondor uses a black standard bearing the White Tree, and the Guards of the Citadel of Minas Tirith wore black chain mail. In [[The Peoples of Middle-earth]], three Númenórean ships are followed by a boat with black sails. One of the mariners explains to a native of Middle-earth, scared that the black sails indicate doom, that the blackness is in fact a thing of beauty, the night sky of Elbereth (who kindled the stars). Indeed, Tolkien states that one of Morgoth's (literally, the ''Black Enemy'') victories was in associating darkness and night with fear and evil.

===Evil Men===
One potentially racist element in Middle-Earth is that the majority of the men who serve Sauron are the dark-skinned peoples of the [[Easterlings (First Age)|Easterling]]s and [[Southrons]]. They come from the South and East of Middle-Earth, corresponding with Asia and Africa in the loose connection between Middle-Earth geography and that of the real world.
The Easterlings are aligned with Morgoth or Sauron with the exception of Bór's folk. They are described as being of fairly dark skin complexion, swarthy and exceedingly cruel. The Southrons (or Haradrim) are described as black-skinned, cruel and evil, and are apparently at least inspired by Indian cultures with traits such as fighting on [[Mumakil]]-back.

In some cases, people having the slightest blood relation to enemies, like [[Freca]] and [[Wulf]], who are related to the [[Dunlendings]], are presented as evil themselves, as if evilness is hereditary. Some of these are also called "swarthy" (dark). Bill Ferny is said to be swarthy, and this can be traced to his Dunlending ancestry.

While the Easterlings and the Haradrim are dark-skinned people in the service of the Enemy, the [[Woses]] are primitive, small, and alien compared to other peoples (their chief Ghan-buri-Ghan only wears a grass skirt) yet they are valuable allies (in ''The Return of the King''). While Tolkien does not mention their skin colour, they were considered monsters by the Rohirrim who hunted them as animals, which the narrative explicitly condemns. However in the First Age they were counted as ''Edain'', or noble Men, and were allies of the Elves.

However, not all enemies are non-white. Noteworthy examples are Saruman, [[Gríma]], [[Gollum]], and at least two of the [[Nazgûl]]. Also [[Lotho Sackville-Baggins]] and the [[ruffians]] are white-skinned characters who ravage and take over [[the Shire]]. Indeed, while during the timeframe of Lord of the Rings those enslaved and serving Sauron are darker skinned people from the South and East, during the history of Middle-Earth many of the white races of man and even some Elves were fooled and coerced by the Enemy.

Tolkien also wrote that the [[Blue Wizards]], who do not appear in '''The Lord of the Rings'' narrative, were sent into the South and East lands to spread dissent and resistance against Sauron. While he wrote on one occasion (as given in ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'') that they failed, on another occasion (as given in ''[[The Peoples of Middle-earth]]'') he wrote that they were successful, making Sauron's hold on these lands throughout the centuries significantly weaker than it should have been. This prevented Sauron from overwhelming the West with his armies and ultimately contributed to his defeat in the War of the Ring. This means that Southrons and Easterlings resisting Sauron were meant to exist, only that their stories remain untold.

===Racism in Middle-earth===
Tolkien portrays racism within the "heroic" races as unabashedly negative. Elves and Dwarves distrust each other. Some Elves hunted the Petty-dwarves as animals, as did the Rohirrim to the [[Woses]]. The friendship between [[Legolas]] and [[Gimli]] is portrayed as unusual but commendable, and several scenes illustrate them learning to understand and respect each other's cultural differences. When [[Gimli]] takes a strand of [[Galadriel]]'s hair, he is described as having ''"look[ed] into the heart of an enemy and saw there love and understanding."''

It is notable that there is apparently racism within the ranks of Orcs as the Uruk-hai held themselves as superior to the common Orcs, whom they called ''snaga'' (slave).

The point-of-view characters of the book -- the hobbits -- are themselves of a race that is frequently described as being overlooked, under-estimated, and lightly regarded by the other races of Middle-earth, yet they often demonstrate far greater courage and nobility than the races who denigrate them. They are not without prejudice, however, and Gandalf is shown reprimanding Frodo for his comments on [[Barliman Butterbur]].

The Númenóreans of Gondor fell to infighting because of a supposed need for racial purity, especially concerning the ancestry of their king (the [[Kin-strife]]), and grew weaker as a result. In this affair, the villain was the pure-blooded Númenórean [[Castamir]] while the hero was the half-Númenórean [[Eldacar (King of Gondor)|Eldacar]].

===Dwarves as Jews===

Tolkien himself compared Dwarves to Jews:
{{quote|"The dwarves of course are quite obviously - wouldn't you say that in many ways they remind you of the Jews? Their words are Semitic obviously, constructed to be Semitic."|J.R.R. Tolkien<ref>http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/jrrt_int.htm</ref>}}
One may interpret this comment in many ways. It should be noted that he only made an explicit connection between the dwarf-language [[Khuzdul]] to Semitic languages. In another letter, he makes the same comparison, but this time it is explicitly about both peoples being dispossessed of their lands, forced to wander the world, and adopt the languages of other lands: both were "at once natives and aliens in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country, but with an accent due to their own private tongue…" ([[Letter 176]])

Throughout the books, Tolkien paints a mostly positive picture of the dwarves ([[Gimli]] of course is brave and honourable, and it is stated in one of the Appendices to The Lord of the Rings that "few Dwarves ever served the enemy willingly", contrary to the tales of Men) and elsewhere he made explicitly positive statements about the Jewish people.

However, one of the weaknesses of the Dwarves was their greed for gold and other riches, amplified by the [[Seven Rings]]. Some see a connection between this and the stereotype of the Jewish usurer. It is also possible to draw a connection between the bearded Dwarves and the beards of Orthodox Jews.

===Númenóreans===

Tolkien has divine beings blessing or gifting peoples or persons and their descendants, having thus the concept of the [[chosen people]] who differ from others — in Tolkien's case, the Dúnedain (literally "Men of the West") of Númenor. It should be also noted that according to Theosophy, Ariosophy and Nazism<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#Occultism</ref>, the Aryan race is supposedly descended from [[Atlantis]].<ref>Alfred Rosenberg, [[Wikipedia:The_Myth_of_the_Twentieth_Century|The Myth of the Twentieth Century]]</ref>

Although gifted, many of Tolkien's Númenóreans are evil. In the Appendices to the Return of the King, Númenórean fleets sail to Middle Earth, where they conquer and subjugate native peoples in what may be a commentary on European imperialism. The Númenóreans ultimately cause their own downfall by following the teachings of Morgoth, conducting human sacrifices, and making war on Valinor. At least three of the Nazgûl are Númenóreans.

==Counterindications==
Tolkien's defenders assert that many criticisms of racism and elitism leveled at ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other writings are oversimplifications and generalizations, and do not take account of everything the author may have written concerning these matters.

*The symbolism of light as good and dark as evil is a prehistoric dichotomy present in a great many cultures, Western and otherwise. It is also a part of Christianity (John 8:12 Jesus Christ said, "I am the Light of the World, Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."). Variations such as the Manicheeist heresy and further the ancient religion of Persia - Zoroastrianism.

*Tolkien was English, and wanted to make a mythology for England. Therefore he wrote ''The Lord of the Rings'' according to his people's point of view. He could not make his protagonists, say, Incan or Japanese, or even put the setting anywhere else than (an alternative) North-western Europe, in spirit if not in actuality.

*Tolkien only made precise ''geographic'' correspondences of Third Age Middle-earth locations to those in the real world. For example, [[Hobbiton]] was at the latitude of Oxford. The Shire was based upon, but ''was not actually'' rural England, since "the lands have changed" since then. Tolkien made no precise correspondences regarding the ''peoples'' concerned. Though the Hobbits were based upon rural English folk, they were not literally ancient Englishmen. He never said that Harad was Africa, nor the Eastlands Asia, nor their inhabitants ancestors of Africans or Asians. ''The Silmarillion'' presents tales of a time when the Earth's lands were different from that in the Third Age.

*Not only the East and South are associated with evil, and neither were they always so. In the First Age, evil came from the North when Morgoth based himself in [[Angband]]. Also, all Men and Elves first awoke in the East. Boromir is introduced as a "man of the South" without qualification (actually South-west).

*The white but darker-skinned Dunlendings themselves are descendants of the [[Edain]] (through the [[House of Haleth]]), therefore distant though unrecognized relatives of the Dunedain of Numenor, and their ancestors grew hostile to the Dunedain due to the latter despoiling their forests. The mostly benign and hearty men of Bree are descended from Dunlendings.

*In the War of the Ring, the human enemies are not truly evil, since they are described as deceived, enslaved or exploited. Sam sees a dead warrior of Harad and wonders if he was truly evil — or rather deceived or coerced to go to war (see below). The Dunlendings are persuaded by Saruman to attack Rohan, playing on their grievances due to Gondor giving what they considered their land to the Eotheod, the ancestors of the Rohirrim. Earlier, Sauron persuaded their ancestors to fight against the Numenoreans, the cause of their relocation from forests into the hills.

*Tolkien does not actually mention the physical features of the Easterlings in ''The Lord of the Rings''; however the Easterlings of ''The Silmarillion'' are described as either sallow or swarthy. There is no certainty that the Easterlings of the First Age are the same people as those of the Third Age though: in fact, many of the "white" Men of Eriador are indicated to be descendants of the First Age Easterlings.

*Tolkien first describes the Haradrim in ''The Lord of the Rings'' as tall, dark, and looking fierce and nasty (according to [[Gollum]]), with long black hair, painted faces and gold earrings and ornaments. Later a warrior of Harad who falls at Sam's feet has black plaits of hair braided with gold. Notably, the author does not describe them as black, nor their hair as kinky, nor give them any other typical sub-Saharan African features.

*All the "superior" people, be they Elves, Edain or Dunedain, have no direct analogues in peoples of the real world. If the Dunedain could be put somewhere, they would belong in [[Atlantis]], since Numenor was Middle-Earth's counterpart to Plato's Atlantis. The Rohirrim, who have been parallelled to blond and fair Europeans, are "inferior" to them, being Middle Men, in their view.

*Kings, princes, heirs and noblemen as protagonists is not necessarily an advocation of blood nobility, since it is a theme and concept common in myths and fairy-tales. Also, [[Samwise Gamgee]] represents the common man, and sees insights that more "noble" characters apparently do not, such as the true situation of the human enemies. Note that in a letter (#131), Tolkien states that Sam is the chief hero of the whole book.

*There are no truly "perfect" peoples in Tolkien's writings, save perhaps the [[Vanyar]]. Given that Tolkien loved trees and nature in general, having his Numenoreans wantonly cut down trees for ships is decidedly negative. The Noldor rebelled against the Valar and killed their fellow Elves.

==''Lord of the Rings'' and Fascism==

In Italy, ''Lord of the Rings'' is considered fascist by some groups and Italian fascist organisations are allegedly using the book for recruiting.<ref>http://www.johnreilly.info/ata.htm</ref> According to Italian website [http://www.caltanet.it/frm/cinema/ Caltanet], [[Wikipedia:Alleanza Nazionale|Alleanza Nazionale]], a right-oriented Italian political party, had taken a picture from ''Fellowship of the Ring'' movie to promote a speech by his leader, [[Wikipedia:Gianfranco Fini|Gianfranco Fini]].<ref>http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/8/1001628604</ref>

Tolkien's works have also been embraced by self-admitted racists such as the British National Party.<ref>The Sunday Times - [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/article804465.ece The BNP has declared Lord of the Rings essential reading. They’re not the only extremists to get the wrong idea]</ref>

However, Tolkien himself stated in a letter to his son in 1943 that ''My political opinions lean more and more to Anarchy (philosophically understood, meaning the abolition of control not whiskered men with bombs)-or to 'unconstitutional' Monarchy.'' (The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien) [https://rodbenson.com/2011/08/20/tolkien-on-anarchism/]. Thus this makes any notion of Tolkien being fascist defunct.

==Relevant Passages from the text==
{{quote|It is not unlikely that they <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Orcs]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> invented some of the machines that have since troubled the world, especially the ingenious devices for killing large numbers of people at once, for wheels and engines and explosions always delighted them"|''[[The Hobbit]]'', "Over-Hill and Under-Hill"}}

{{quote|It was Sam's first view of a battle of Men against Men, and he did not like it much. He was glad that he could not see the dead face. He wondered what the man's name was and where he came from; and if he was really evil at heart, or what lies or threats had led him on the long march from his home; and if he would not really rather have stayed there in peace.|''[[The Two Towers]]'', "[[Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit]]"}}

==Tolkien on Racism==
{{quote|I must say that the enclosed letter from Rutten & Loening is a bit stiff. Do I suffer this impertinence because of the possession of a German name, or do their lunatic laws require a certificate of arisch origin from all persons of all countries? ... Personally I should be inclined to refuse to give any ''Bestätigung'' (although it happens that I can), and let a German translation go hang. In any case I should object strongly to any such declaration appearing in print. I do not regard the (probable) absence of all Jewish blood as necessarily honourable; and I have many Jewish friends, and should regret giving any colour to the notion that I subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine.|[[Letter 29]] — Tolkien's German publishers had asked whether he was of Aryan origin}}

{{quote|Thank you for your letter... I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ''arisch''. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware noone [sic] of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.|[[Letter 30]] (Tolkien's unsent response to his German publishers; a more neutral version was ultimately sent)}}

{{quote|There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done.|J.R.R. Tolkien — September 23, 1944}}

{{quote|I have the hatred of apartheid in my bones; and most of all I detest the segregation or separation of Language and Literature. I do not care which of them you think White.|From a [[Valedictory Address to the University of Oxford]] in [[1959]]}}

{{quote|As for what you say or hint of ‘local’ conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain, & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately], not many retain that generous sentiment for long.|[[Letter 61]] — Written to Christopher Tolkien who was stationed in South Africa during World War II}}

{{quote|Anyway, I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[Letter 45]]}}

==External links==

*[http://middle-earth.xenite.org/2012/11/29/is-it-true-there-is-racism-in-the-lord-of-the-rings/ Is It True There is Racism in The Lord of the Rings?] by [[Michael Martinez]]
*[http://tolkien.slimy.com/faq/External.html#Racist Portion of a Tolkien FAQ attempting to give an answer to the matter]
*[http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jan/08lord.htm Critique of the Lord of the Rings as an 'epic rooted in racism' by Dr Shapiro]
*[http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-030112epringsrace,0,4574891.story 'Lord' of racism? Critics view trilogy as discriminatory] by Chicago Tribune
{{references}}
[[Category:Debates]]
[[category:Tolkien criticism]]