Not-racists did exist at the time. Would be cool if Tolkien was ahead of the curve, but it’s not going to diminish his legacy if we criticize him a little.
As far as I’m aware Tolkien did oppose discrimination against Jews, though. He was once asked by the Hitler regime whether he was Aryan, and he responded with a sassy answer that he didn’t have the honour of being one of those noble people from India, etc.
I think that had he been born in more modern times, he would have been the equivalent of a grandfather who might be a bit slow with the times, but certainly is no hateful person. In that context, it is all the more sacrilege what oligarchs have been trying to appropriate.
Not-racists did exist at the time. Would be cool if Tolkien was ahead of the curve, but it’s not going to diminish his legacy if we criticize him a little.
As far as I’m aware Tolkien did oppose discrimination against Jews, though. He was once asked by the Hitler regime whether he was Aryan, and he responded with a sassy answer that he didn’t have the honour of being one of those noble people from India, etc.
I think that had he been born in more modern times, he would have been the equivalent of a grandfather who might be a bit slow with the times, but certainly is no hateful person. In that context, it is all the more sacrilege what oligarchs have been trying to appropriate.