[The Iguana]

He ignores the religious beliefs of Tolkien and goes straight to the race card.

Given that Tolkien was a devout, orthodox (pre-Vatican II) Catholic, I doubt that would help Tolkien's case in this court of opinion.

[weegee]

My point is that if this critic is going to look for symbolism in the subtext, there are larger issues at play in the story (or so I've been told). Best to look for the intended symbolism than the modern context reapraisal.