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Claiming Tolkien was anti-racist also contributes to erasing and ignoring the lived experiences of fans of colour. It makes fandom less welcoming to POC. Donât do it 10/
The racism written into Middle earth got written into fantasy conventions too. Again, it can be resisted but that takes acknowledgment and conscious work. And yes I have published a book about this https://books.google.com/books/about/Race_and_Popular_Fantasy_Literature.html?id=FvlWCgAAQBAJ
There is a *lot* of investment from white mainstream media, fandom, scholars and other fantasy folk in arguing that Tolkien and Middle earth arenât racist. Google Tolkien and racism and youâll find plenty. There is white privilege and white fragility in this 11/
Privilege because white folks are used to not having to âseeâ race and racializatiom to cope or survive in our racist societies. So for white folks itâs also not necessary in that sense to see how popular culture reinforces racism 12/
White fragility because often that defensiveness is in response to there merest hint of critique. White folks take it personally when their fave is criticised. They canât cope with the idea of liking something racist. 13/
Itâs like âif I like something racist, then maybe Iâm racist. And Iâm not racist so the thing I like canât be either.â Itâs an extension of how so many white folk think being called racist is worse than actually being racist 14/
And yes, I know this because I have thought/felt that way. I love The Lord if the Rings, read it every year. DID NIT WANT it to be racist. But then I learned about racism, read LOTR again, and now could never unsee it. I can still love it but I also know what it is: RACIST
Popular culture, not just Tolkien but DEFINITELY including him, is used as a vehicle for getting extremist ideas into the mainstream and for getting sympathy for and agreement with those ideas. 17?/
Extremists start with things like âwe love Tolkienâ, which makes non-extremists who also like Tolkien feel affinity. Then extremist interpretations can be out forward (this is easy with Tolkien because of the previosuly mentioned racism built into LOTR) 18/
So with Tolkien it might be around how LOTR says Gondorians were âdiminishedâ by intermarrying with âlesserâ races of âmen.â Sounds a lot like some racist theory of miscegenation to me! 19/
Some folk will recognise and resist this sort of reading, but others donât. Itâs a way of putting out extremist ideas in places where folks a relatively likely to be receptive because âwe like the same thingsâ. 20/
Racist pop culture supports racists. It lets extremists get âinâ. We can kick them out again but it takes work and knowledge and recognition and first and foremost LISTENING TO POC ESPECIALLY POC WHO ARE EXPERTS IN ANTI-RACISM WORK 21/
Iâm in the colony known as Australia, so hereâs a starting list of anti-racist books for here. Get your local library to order them if you canât afford to buy. Then borrow and read. https://www.readings.com.au/collection/books-to-help-you-understand-and-fight-white-supremacy
