Was Mark Twain (Sam Clemens) racist? (America, advent)

[chelee]

I just want opinions here, I have to write a paper on this, and I was wondeing your thoughts on the issue.

[Runt]

Well... he was an abolitionist, I know that for sure. Also, although the African-American characters he portrays in his books may speak poorly (then again, ALL his characters speak poorly-- the colloquialism makes the stories realistic), they are very... human. I got the distinct impression that he was trying very hard to show that his African-American characters are people, just people, no different than his white characters. I don't think he was racist; I think he was opposing racism.

[lilithu]

Originally Posted by chelee

I just want opinions here, I have to write a paper on this, and I was wondeing your thoughts on the issue.

You mean based on Huck Finn?

No. Just the opposite. He wrote the character of Huck to think and say racist things because that's the culture in which Huck grew up, but Huck still couldn't act upon those racist thoughts. Deep down in his core, Huck knew it was wrong. And I think that's what Twain was trying to get across.

[Feathers in Hair]

Although I haven't read his works in awhile, I think he was actually quite (as Lilithu said) the opposite. In "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," Jim is one of the most caring, sweet characters one could hope to meet. Most of the other characters reactions to him show the idiocy of treating this felllow as anything less than a fellow human being.