Quote:
Originally Posted by Galadriel55
...And, coming back to the Haradrim and the Easterlings, they are always portrayed as men, same as other men - mistaken, enemies, but still men. You get a sense of respect for them...
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In a footnote of Appendice
A of LotR there is reference to at least some of the Haradrim in Umbar being allied with Gondor, but that they swayed in their loyalty between Gondor and Harad:
"...Umbar had been Numenorean land since days of old; but it was a stronghold of the King's Men, who were afterwards called the Black Numenoreans, corrupted by Sauron..."
I'm not sure whether 'Black' here refers to black skinned or metaphorically black, given the reference to Sauron's influence, but they are aknowledged as Numenorien.
There are several parallels from the real world here. The people of Kush (aka Nubia) were known as
the Black Pharoes, and they swayed between being independant from or paying tribute to Egypt. They also at times ruled Egypt, so in this sense the analogy breaks down.
Another analogy for Harad and Umbar would be Carthage and it's relationship with the Berber tribes. Some Berbers faught for Carthage but switched loyalty (to Rome). Furthermore Carthage is famous for its war elephants, which initially caught the Romans unprepared.
The Cartaginians, Berbers and Egyptians were Semitic, the Nubians black, and they all fought with Caucasian Greeks and Romans. However I do not believe that recounting this fact is sufficient to count myself as racist. In Tolkien's case I would say that Middle Earth's clear distinctions between high and low/good and evil mean that we are not siding with the Good guys
because they are white (or non-white) but because
they really are Good.
If only the real world were so clear cut...