One of the most overlooked and insightful dialogues that Mark Twain
participated in regarding racism is the one he reported to Helene Picard in
a letter dated 26 August 1909 — online at

http://www.twainquotes.com/picard.html

He described a conversation with his daughter Jean and her indignation that
he believed the Virgin Mary was a dark-skinned woman. Twain recognized the
unavoidable racism present in all — a psychological tendency to identify
with and prefer “sameness.”

Following up on the history of how artists tend to portray Christ as
fair-skinned is a book THE COLOR OF CHRIST: THE SON OF GOD & THE SAGA OF
RACE IN AMERICA by Blum and Harvey (Univ. Of North Carolina Press, 2012)
that also references Twain’s dialogue with Jean as well as Hal Bush’s MARK
TWAIN AND THE SPIRITUAL CRISIS OF HIS AGE.

Barb