From: cffitzge@IASTATE.EDU (Charles F Fitzgerald)
Subject: Re: Racism Survives!
Reply-To: cffitzge@IASTATE.EDU (Charles F Fitzgerald)
Organization: Iowa State University
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 06:23:56 GMT

bil@ockforum.uoknor.edu writes
>This whole issue of racism has become tedious. 

No one is forcing you to read it.

>It's as if those
>complaining about it have no other means of identifying themselves,
>that their race (or that of those they claim to defend) is the only
>distinctive feature they can use to ennoble themselves.

No, they are pointing out the presence of racism in the works of
Tolkien because it worries them.  These books are read by many
different people of different ages, some very impressionable. What
do these books teach?  This is an important and non-trivial
question, the answer to which is of note to many of us.

>What arrogance to judge another generation by our "standards"! Tolkien
>lived in and understood a world very different from ours, he was a
>product of his Age, just as we are of ours. What was "Scientific" fact
>to him or his contemporaries, my seem questionable in some regards,
>not because the facts have changed, but rather because we choose to
>interpret them differently. 

Though it is true that we should not judge the past by our
standards, it is not true that we should blindly accept something
simply because it was written in a different time.  We must 
examine the texts that come down to us from our fore-fathers and
recognise the short comings within them, so that we might be
better for their mistakes.

This is not to say that we should alter the works of past authors
because they do not fit with our current societal values.  To use
words often found in this thread, that would be a "black evil."
We do have a responsiblity, however, to recognise the implicit
prejudices inherent in the books of the past and try to change our
views independent from the ideals promoted in those books.

>The whole issue is nothing but
>interpretation, and it is an absolute certainty that our
>interpretations will bw judged in their turn by future dillitantes and
>pseudo-scholars.

The issue is not simply interpretation.  Much of the prejudice
that has been mentioned does actually exist in Tolkien's works.
Future generations may or may not recognise the prejudice, but it
will remain there, none the less.

For my part, I have always loved Tolkien's writings.  He is,
by far, my favourite writer.  It hurts me to think that he
may have been in the least bit prejudiced or sexist.  I have
to admit, however, that there is truth to much of what has
been written about his prejudice.  I must admit that the 
message of a woman's place being in the home is fairly
obvious if one looks for it.  I may not like this conclusion,
but it remains the case.  I may not like the idea that the
light skinned races are all portrayed as fundamentally better
than everyone else, but they are so portrayed.  Closing my
eyes to the problem will not make it go away.

I think it is a important to discuss this issue because it is
only through dialogue that we come to understand our fellow
man.  People will use Tolkien's works to justify causes that
are contrary to what I feel is the true message of his works
because he is the child of a different age.  It is only through
open discussion that we will be able to create a defense against
such people and expose the error of their ways.

--
Charles F. Fitzgerald | '....Life's but a walking shadow,
Iowa State University | a poor player, that struts, and frets
cffitzge@iastate.edu  | his hour upon the stage,
                      | and then is heard from no more....'
                      | _MacBeth_, by W. Shakespeare.