British University teaches that 'The Lord of the Rings' is a racist book

Screenshot from The Lord of the Rings film

The University of Nottingham has introduced a history course titled “Decolonising Tolkien and Others,” in which students are taught that J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis demonized people of color, The Telegraph reports.

The course is taught by historian and writer Dr Onyeka Nubia, who claims that the Eastern races of Middle-earth are portrayed as evil, while the light-skinned peoples of the West are shown as virtuous. According to the course materials, Tolkien perpetuates a tradition of “anti-African antipathy,” depicting Africans as “the natural enemy of the white man.”

Those considered “victims” of racism include the Easterlings, Southerners, and the people of Harad, as well as the orcs – dark-skinned, malevolent creatures serving Sauron, the “Dark Lord.” The course author argues that Tolkien follows a literary tradition of associating evil with darkness, which he regards as a manifestation of racism.

The course also explores racial issues in C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia. The Calormenes in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe have long been viewed by some critics as carriers of Eastern stereotypes – described as “cruel people with long beards and orange turbans.”

Dr Nubia further asserts that medieval England “had a diverse population that included Africans,” but literature failed to mention them due to “ethnic chauvinism.” He emphasizes that Shakespeare’s works helped shape a vision of an “imaginary mono-ethnic English past” and claims his plays are problematic for their “absence of direct references to Africans living in England.”

Earlier, the UOJ reported that Donald Trump criticized the mayor of London for introducing Sharia law.

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