wait...your argument's getting worse - you're accusing them of stunt casting? (bc they knew the plot wasn't working and needed a 'woke' distraction?)
please tell me that's not your argument
"Stunt" casting or not, they deliberately chose black actors when they knew the fandom would be expecting white ones.
But that's not my point. My point is that, from a storytelling perspective, we have a single black elf in a sea of palefaces and nobody notices? If the characters see 'just another elf', then fine. If they see an elf of singular coloration and hair, wouldn't someone at some point make note of it? It's just weird.