: Could it be that our interpretations of Elf-Dwarf relations (and perhaps other "inter-race" relations in ME) are shaped more than we know by our living in the 21st century in the United States or Europe (as it seems most of us do), where various issues of racism in the modern sense form some of the background of our basic experience?

No, certainly not, again I say - the elves were certainly pregidous, one need only to look at Thingol's remarks to ascertain this (Not to mention Gimli's treatment at the entrance to Lorien)- why complicate it?