Racism and Tolkien.

[Ardent]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

...the Orc-Chieftain who leads the attack against the Fellowship in the Chamber of Mazarbul, is described as having a "swart" face, meaning dark-hued (though not necessarily black)...
... even if the Orcs are black-skinned, this does not (as Dr Shapiro attempts to argue) in any way suggest to me racism on JRRT's part.

The word 'swart' comes from the German word for black, and we still use the term 'swarthy' to denote dark skin, but it was not a racial reference. These days we think it attractive to have a tan, but it used to be the other way around. Having a tan marked you out as a person of low status because you worked out of doors, unlike the nobility, clan leaders and learned who spent more time indoors holding court or studying.

Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, because the sun hath scorched me. My mother’s sons were incensed against me, they made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Song of Solomon 1:6