I am an African American woman who teaches Huckleberry Finn in several
of my classes, including American Realism and Literary Allusion in
Ralph Ellison.  I find the question whether or not Twain's novel is
"racist" not very illuminating (sorry for the syntax, I can't backspace
on this)--discussions on this question don't get us very far.  However,
talking about the text as it reveals not only Twain's but American
society's ambivalence about African Americans, race, humanity, etc.
is a more interesting way for me to get at the issues surrounding the
charges of "racism" in the text.  I'd be happy to talk to you about the
question privately if you want a little more discussion from me--

Claire Garcia at Colorado College.