Racism and Tolkien.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Lotrelf

Indeed it all is Totally rubbish! A race being inferior to other is nowhere seen in the books. Tolkien being a War Veteran could never write such stuff. Also, his writing suggests he believes in Love, Compassion, and the positive things our society needs. Racism isn't there, and your post explains it wonderfully.

Thank you for your kind words.

Originally Posted by blantyr

I wouldn't go that far. The elves and some men descended from Numenor knew something of 'The Art' while other races could only learn degraded forms of magic. Certain cultures had more attractive life styles and values than others.

That is true, but that disparity in cultural and technological "enlightenment" is not depicted as being the fault of those who lacked it.

Originally Posted by blantyr

I'd also note a great deal of segregation in Middle Earth. The men of Rohan and Gondor spoke ill of the Lady of the Golden Wood. Galadriel and Fangorn lived very near to one another's borders for Ages, yet never visited one another. King Aragorn forbade Big Folk from entering the Shire.

Segregation, yes, but it doesn't appear to be due to any deliberate decision to avoid other races because they were seen as inferior. The Elves in the Third Age were generally feared by Men such as the Rohirrim, who had simply grown estranged from them over time. And the ban on Men entering the Shire was an outgrowth, it seems, of the invasion of the land by Saruman's men. It may be notable the Aragorn's edict was that Men were to stay out of the Shire. Dwarves and Elves apparently were under no such law.

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Segregation, yes, but it doesn't appear to be due to any deliberate decision to avoid other races because they were seen as inferior.

That's true. I think the real "issue" some people have is that if a person has dark skin or squint eyes, he's automatically the enemy. It's unclear, though, if the "problem" lies in ME's culture or in Tolkien's decision to make it so which may (or may not ) reflect his own views. The problem with that, of course, is that I don't see much of a problem as ME geography and partially its history mirrors that of the real world, and the divide between good and bad on a global scale is more geographical. On an individual scale, the scale that really matters, nothing's black and white (no pun intended... or maybe it was). All the examples of "bad" Elves and "bad" Numenorians and lack of enimity because of race show the true reasons for everything, the individual scale. Why do people really do things. But the global scale divides "good" and "bad" geographically, so no wonder than on a global scale someone with squint eyes is going to be automatically thought an enemy. He may be good, but he's still an enemy.

[Mithalwen]

Can I point out that squint eyed is not a racial description but a medical one. It simply refers to someone who has a squint or is making a face to give a similar appearance. While derogatory to those those afflicted it is not racially so.

Edit.. noticed WCH made this point upthread but will let it stand as bears repeating and the phrase is still being mentioned.

[Alfirin]

An interesting example might be found in the Lossoth/Men of Forochel; the Wests most Nothernly men. They might be of a nordic/germanic stock, but with thier igloos (I think Tolkien said they make houses of snow) and use of bone runnered sleds, they sound an awful lot like Inuit/Eskimos (or whatever the Greenland/Iceland branch of the First Nations call themselves). If that is the case, they are presumably dark skinned and "squint eyed" by the racial standards of the West. And yet, they are very clearly "good guys" (they may not be very deeply involved in the affairs of thier Southern Neigbors, but when they do come into the tales of the west, it is very clearly on the side of the "good".
And I've always interpreted Aragorn's Edict as being to keep men from SETTLING in the shire (not a wholesale "no man can ever even enter the border), lest they take it over from the somewhat less warlike hobbits. Hobbits are largely peaceful (even if they can be roused to defend themsevles) so let them live where they live in peace. It's to keep the hobbits safe, not to keep them isolated (it's not like Aragorn banned hobbits from leaving the shire, or required that they all move there.) It's sort of similar to what he did for the Woses of the Drudan forests; He's trying to make sure that no one molests them, or can come in with great masses of men and arms and take the territory from them.