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In a private letter, Tolkien described orcs as “squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes: in fact degraded and repulsive versi
by cgrealy 5y ago
In a private letter, Tolkien described orcs as
“squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes: in fact degraded and repulsive versions of the (to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types.”
Again, not saying we have to “cancel” Tolkien, but we should be aware of the issues and do better in future.
- angelzen 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean%E2%80%93Nogai_slave_raids_in_Eastern_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean%E2%80%93Nogai_slave_ra... Same register as the vastly more mediatized Atlantic slave trade. This raises a fundamental question: Is it possible to mend centuries of abject & violent abuse across racial lines, where the most common interaction with members of the other racial group was through a slaver's whip. Not sure that 'do better' scolding, especially if inconsistently applied, is sufficient.