Again, does every story need every species to reflect the full spectrum of morality?
To be clear.
In this context, the part that is "racist" is the color-coding of the Elf. In old school D&D the "Good" Elf has light skin and the "Evil" Elf has dark skin. This is something that many African Americans noticed and were less than thrilled with.
Today the Elf species continues to be extremely popular among D&D fans. In Baldurs Gate 3, the various Elves (High, Drow, and Half) are together far more popular than Human. How WotC officially describes the Elf species matters for how people perceive D&D generally.
WotC resolves this problematic in two ways.
• Both the High Elf and the Drow Elf are now "Any Alignment".
• Both the High Elf and the Drow Elf can exhibit a range of skin complexions from light to dark.
The spectrum of skin complexions has always been true in the lore, even in old school D&D, even if it can be surprising when calling attention to this lore. The dark complexion High Elf has a bluish dark skin, and the light complexion Drow Elf has a very pale silvery complexion. In Tashas, there is an illustration of a High Elf and a Drow Elf. It took me a while to realize − and judging by the hair color − the light complexion Elf (with white hair) is Drow, and the dark complexion Elf (with black hair) is High.
Ever since Gygax himself invented the Drow, it is the cult of Lolth that cultivates an Evil Drow culture. There have always been Drow communities who dont adhere to the Lolth cult. For D&D 5e, it is fine to emphasize that the followers of Lolth are a "faction". By extension, most Drow dont belong to this faction and are "normal" Elves of "any alignment".
The "mark" of Lolth is now understood to be a decorative tattoo-like web pattern. Only high level Drow who are the most ardent supporters of Lolth receive this mark.
Where the Drow Half-Elf becomes a Drow full Elf in Pandelver, it seems like part of the wider effort to give examples of Drow who are "normal" and who arent members of the Lolth faction.
