Lord of the Rings labelled racist

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by davem

My point is that we can either dismiss their statements out of hand by saying the book has no inner meaning & leave it at that, or we have to argue on their terms & state what it does mean - in which case we have to determine what it actually means, what Tolkien actually is saying in the book.

I disagree.

There is ample material on this and the linked threads to support a very strong (overwhelming, in my view) case to the effect that Tolkien was not a racist, that he did not intend LotR to support a racist agenda and that (irresepective of his intention) it does not in fact support such an agenda. It is not necessary to formulate any particular view on what Tolkien was trying to say in order to put that case.