Dark elves and racist coding?

(Note: This post was originally composed in August 2019 and was not posted until February 2021. It may come across as "politically correct." The statements I make here do not necessarily reflect my views as of this writing. I decided to leave it unaltered for archival purposes.)

Dark elves are a bit more difficult. D&D in particular depicts its "drow" as literally dark-skinned in contrast to other elves, and has traditionally linked this to their evil nature by writing backstories where they were cursed with black skin for their wickedness. This is disturbing because the same logic was used to justify the historical enslavement of black Africans in the Americas. Pathfinder tries to soften the blow by claiming that drow were mutated by magical radiation when they refused to evacuate during an apocalypse out of pride, but this doesn't actually solve the underlying issue and in this case specifically the drow are still depicted as being metaphorically punished for some perceived sin. Fantasy gaming depicts light-skinned elves as the original or purity, whereas dark-skinned elves are an aberration or corruption.

For example, EverQuest Next depicts dark elves as being even further mutated by dwelling on the setting's equivalent of the shadowfell, developing unusual skin tones, bone growths like horns and spikes, and increased aggression. (Although during development they had various ideas for other skin tones: here, here, and here.)

Many other fantasy works such as The Elder Scrolls, Warhammer Fantasy and WarCraft try to avoid the negative implications by depicting dark elves as dark-skinned and non-evil or as light-skinned and evil. Although non-evil drow exist in obscure D&D lore, the fandom seems quite resistant to addressing the controversial underpinnings of the drow. I can only imagine why.

Still, even settings in which dark elves are distinguished only by darker skin but are otherwise not stigmatized still have racist sounding terminology. Imagine if human cultures were referred to solely by their skin color: white humans, yellow humans, black humans, brown humans, etc. Does that sound like a nice shorthand to label people? Because that is precisely what a lot of video games, novels, and anime/manga are doing with elves.

Given my distaste for the traditional depiction of drow as being cursed or mutated with black skin as punishment for wickedness or pride, I would prefer to adopt Raging Heroes' "burnt elves" backstory wholesale. How exactly does that make my burnt elves different from the standard drow and their disturbing implications? Firstly, these burnt elves are literally charred in body and soul; whereas the elfish skin tones could be anything, so nobody is named by their skin tone. Secondly, this scarring of the soul is the cause of the burnt elves' subsequent behavior (wicked or otherwise) rather than a result; an inverse of the traditional drow being punished with dark skin for their sins. Thirdly, these burnt elves are the descendants of the victims and instigators of the ethnic violence that scarred them in the first place; thus they serve as a metaphor for the cycles of abuse/violence and its harmful effects on society. They have a theme with critical examination, not just thoughtlessly tossing ideas together without considering the context.