Except that this is a Second Age story, which was largely inspired by the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire conquered many nations, and made citizens of people of many ethnicities, races, nationalities, and colors, and was what we today call diverse.
Not what we call diverse today, no. When we speak of diversity, we're actually talking about a diverse society - but the Roman Empire was not particularly diverse in this regard. There wasn't much migration until at the very end of the Roman empire, when it had become less stable - and numerous invasions and subsequent waves of migration caused the Western Roman Empire to crumble and split up (the Migration Period, c. 400-600). Before that time, the Roman Empire consisted of several ethnically homogenous regions, with very little cultural exchange between them. Some places enjoyed more cultural exchange than others, but it wasn't a melting pot. And this is exactly what Tolkien described: most regions of Middle Earth are culturally self-contained, with some places having people of mixed backgrounds - eg. the city of Bree, the Corsairs etc. But for the most part, you can certainly say that "these guys are like this, and those guys are like that".
Imagining Numenor being as diverse as Rome isn't woke-washing, it's good sense.
No, it isn't. For one thing, like I said, Rome was never diverse in the sense that this series will be diverse. But more importantly, Tolkien described exactly in what ways
some regions were diverse. Numenor, for example, was home to the Dunedain and the Druedain - two distinct and separate races. You won't find Dunlendings, Gondorians, Rohirrim or Easterlings - or their descendants - residing there. Now, you will find Dunedain spread across the realm, but this was a one-way exchange.
So when you view the entire universe of Middle Earth, yes it is a very diverse bunch that lives there. But individual groups are not diverse - with some notable exceptions.
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