Lord of the Rings labelled racist

[davem]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

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.

But then, we're not arguing on the same terms as them. Arguing the book is racist, or contains 'racist' ideas is not the same as accusing Tolkien the man of being racist.

If we say the book is just a story & has no inner meaning (citing Tolkien's words in the Foreword) then we have to counter them by arguing that Tolkien himself wasn't wasn't a racist. So the argument from their point of view is about the book, our counter argument is about the man. This is especially the case if their point is that the book is not intentionally racist, but may be percieved as racist.

Have they directly accused Tolkien of being racist or just said the book is? Are they saying that Tolkien himself may not have been a racist, but due to his cultural background he was unconsiously racist & that that comes through in LotR, or are they saying he was a secret racist & used his fiction to promote hiis ideology?

Pedantically yours (as ever )