[JaneDoe]

One of the criticisms often levied against Tolkien's works is that they often have what can be considered racist undertones. I am not interested in debating this, nor am I interested in explaining why someone would think of Tolkien's work as racist. Suffice it to say that it is not as simple as people make it out to be. However, as a fanfic community, I think we can do much to show that Tolkien's works (and by extension the fantasy genre) need not cater exclusively to the exaltation of European heritage and culture.

With that in mind, I come to the bunny baby: Write a story that features a person of color as the main character. However, to avoid the stereotypical portrayal of people of color, I would offer the following limitations:

1. The character must be an individual, not a type.
2. The character cannot be somebody's sidekick.
3. The character has to have pride in his/her culture.
4. If the character has some European or Edain ancestors, the traits that make him/her beautiful, intelligent, virtuous, or noble cannot be due primarily to this fact.
5. The character has to somehow challenge Middle-earth's assumptions about people of color.

I know this bunny is going to be difficult for a lot of people because personal experience (in the US at least) is not always the best model, and the history and cultures of our world are not the same as those of Middle-earth. However, it doesn't need to be impossible. All it takes is a willingness to look at the world through a different lens.

For a practical example, consider making "The Valar Must Be Crazy"*.







*a spin-off of "The Gods Must Be Crazy," a very funny movie that at the same time challenges many of the notions we have about pre-modern people, particularly those of Africa.