Reddit mentions of Race and Popular Fantasy Literature: Habits of Whiteness (Routledge Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Literature)

Hi! Not normally a commentator, but I found this entire exchange very gripping. I too am currently thinking very hard about these ideas of civilisation, albeit from the opposite angle. I am trying to figure out a way to make orcs that aren't just proud warriors and aggressive strongmen. Indeed, I am trying to figure out a way to make them quite human, but still opposed to what you might call "civilised" life, presumably nomads. I am considering making the very word "orc" to be a slur not used other than by unsympathetic characters who might just as easily suggest it's their "nature" to be "warlike" and "savage", basing such claims on rhetoric like "everyone knows" and "it's a fact" and not on the people they actually speak of. But you can see how this can easily backfire: if anyone of a minority finds they can too easily identify with the culture I've made up and applied the slur to, then I might myself be spreading racist ideas. And that's not what I want, really.

So for that reason I just wanted to reach out and offer you some recommendations.
Crash Course World History has an episode based around a book exploring the same ideas of civilisation that you are. Might be worth a look?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyzi9GNZFMU
And also, if you felt like an academic read, there's a very interesting essay by Helen Young, with an entire chapter around how orcs are depicted. A lot of fine points about race gets brought up in there, I thought it was a pretty good eye-opener.
https://www.amazon.com/Race-Popular-Fantasy-Literature-Interdisciplinary-ebook-dp-B013RC62JA/dp/B013RC62JA/ref=mt_kindle?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=
As for your troubles, I'd recommend doing a lot of what might not feel like fantasy reading. There's a lot of stuff on cultural appropriation out there, which is often relevant when people wind up drawing connections you never meant to make. It's a heck of a fine line to walk: trying to be imaginative, engaging and respectful at the same time. But I also think it's a fine line as in, I admire you for trying to adress this. To that end here is a very nice, very calming first blogpost:
https://medium.com/@nettlefish/cultural-appropriation-for-the-worried-writer-some-practical-advice-ac21710685e3

And a wast primer on cultural appropriation in general:
http://writingtheother.com/cultural-appropriation-primer/

I think, to succeed with this story it will just take what it always takes to write something: a good sense of empathy and a lot of research. You'll need to know the pitfalls in order to outsmart them. I hope some of this might help with that. Also wish I had a more concrete advice for you, but I'm in the same place, just trying to figure out how to navigate this stuff.