Tolkien can say whatever he wants but the tropes and allegories and real world parallels are clear as day. Evil dark skinned southerners? Untrustworthy elitist wizards in ivory towers who will betray you to the invading dark hordes? Orcs as evil dark skinned muscular creatures who threaten the idyllic white countryside. The rural perfect shire destroyed by machines and industry. Dwarves who have big noses and go mad for treasure and gold?

I mean come on it’s pretty obvious that he had absorbed some real shit from his racist colonialist society whether he knew it or not

I do like the books, and I do like some of the themes (destroying the ring of power instead of abusing it, the decline of human civilization)