According to the lost interview Sounsyy is citing, the Elementals were actually okay with the Duskwights continuing to live underground.
If that's the case, you ask, why did the Wildwoods and Gridanians respond the way they did to the Duskwights' decision to remain underground? The simplest answer is probably just your garden variety racism. Racial/clan schisms probably already began while they were still underground, when the elezen who would go on to become the Duskwights started to dig deeper. Being allowed to come to the surface was just reason enough for those on the surface to act out on their racism.
I mean, in the real world people do horrible things to eachother all the time for absolutely no justifiable or logical reason, and come up with their own justifications for it, too. I don't see why Gridanians' racism needs to be explained by the Elementals. This is how Gridanians justify their actions today, of course, but that doesn't mean it's actually true.
If that's the case, you ask, why did the Wildwoods and Gridanians respond the way they did to the Duskwights' decision to remain underground? The simplest answer is probably just your garden variety racism. Racial/clan schisms probably already began while they were still underground, when the elezen who would go on to become the Duskwights started to dig deeper. Being allowed to come to the surface was just reason enough for those on the surface to act out on their racism.
I mean, in the real world people do horrible things to eachother all the time for absolutely no justifiable or logical reason, and come up with their own justifications for it, too. I don't see why Gridanians' racism needs to be explained by the Elementals. This is how Gridanians justify their actions today, of course, but that doesn't mean it's actually true.