a brand new book that is the considerable work of a wise and learned
long-term practitioner --  Michael Gilmore’s* The War on Words:  Slavery,
Race, and Free Speech in American Literature *(Chicago, 2010)   -- contains
a chapter entitled:

"Was Twain black?"

Others on here besides Shelley might find this both amusing and provocative.

-- 
Harold K. Bush, Ph.D
Professor of English
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO  63108
314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h)
<www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>