#the cultural context these books came out in (1950s Oxford) is heavily steeped in racism

[atrusofmyst]

Not that it changes the main point re: racism and imperialism in LotR, but the quote in question is (emphasis mine):

"And embassies came from many lands and peoples, from the East and the South, and from the borders of Mirkwood, and from Dunland in the west. And the King pardoned the Easterlings that had given themselves up, and sent them away free, and he made peace with the peoples of Harad; and the slaves of Mordor he released and gave to them all the lands about Lake Núrnen to be their own."

The pardon is not for the East and South at large, but for the prisoners of war, specifically those who had given themselves up and asked for mercy after the Ring had been destroyed. Sending them free without even requiring ransom is a huge hand offering, especially compared to the Gondor of old that used to keep the sons of the kings of Harad as hostages to guarantee their tribute (file under "Why Harad hates Gondor, part 27").

mixed feelings about Tolkien making people of the east and south come to Aragorn for pardon like he's actual jesus christ on judgement day, but I really appreciate that Tolkien's idea of a good king is 1) realising that the true enemy is defeated, and not making the war last longer that it needs to last 2) sending free the people who used to be on the other side of the war, but now come to you in peace 3) freeing slaves 4) giving people their land (the woses's land is their own and no-one is allowed to enter without their permission, same for the shire, rohan does not become a part of the Reunited Kingdom, slaves of mordor get land of their own)