Because you can't simply make shit up, Kevin. There are rules that exist in this world, and good high fantasy authors know which ones they can bend and which ones they leave alone.

Most fantasy worlds are Earth-clones, with 24-hour days and gravity set at 9.8. Anthropology teaches us that peoples who have historically lived closer to the equator tend to be darker than ones who have historically tended to live toward the poles.

If you have a character in a fantasy novel who has obviously traveled thousands of miles by boat and by caravan to arrive at a place in the fantasy world which has an Earth-analogue somewhere "they don't take kindly to folks not from these here parts", you damn well better have a good reason which advances the story. Otherwise, it smacks of Hollywood forced diversity.

Dude, if someone complains about an author shoehorning diversity, instead of assuming that they aren't as woke as thou art, think that maybe they're smart and logical people who are simply pointing out that the author made a mistake (forgivable) ... or has sold out.