Next, the two women argued, “Even if Tolkien had specified that all elves, dwarves and hobbits were white, it still wouldn’t matter.”

They explained, “Adaptations are original cultural products that can imitate, question, rewrite or interpret source material in various ways. Each adaptation is a new text.”

They then claim “And each is an opportunity to update outdated and unacceptable tropes, and find ways to represent and normalise non-white characters.”

Basically the "experts" admit that they do not care about the lore or Tolkien and they want to push their politics.

At least now the racism is out in the open, not that it would change anything.