Thanks, Barbara. Clemens' little talk with Jean about the color of Mary's
skin is hilarious -- and reassuring.

On Sun, Mar 28, 2021, 9:26 AM Barbara Schmidt <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> 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
>