Of course Sam Clemens was a racist. He was also a Darwinist in the best tradition of Herbert Spenser. Darwinism, which has little to do with Charles Darwin, provides the “scientific” underpining for racist beliefs. The “survival of the fittest” paradigm leads directly to the imperialism Sam eventually came to criticize. It is also the justification for liebensraum. We see in Clemens through the years increasing enlightenment – never fully attained. Any difficulties Clemens may have had with “Blacks” is dwarfed by his attitude towards aboriginal peoples, especially the American Indian. I’ve been reading Kerry Driscoll’s book, Mark Twain Among the Indians and other Indigenous Peoples. She paints an amazingly detailed picture of Sam continually running into the contradictions and difficulties that come from his racist/darwinist mindset. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn may give us a glimpse of some emerging enlightenment within Mark Twain but it would still be many years yet for him to accept the idea that “Indigenous People” may in fact be human. Sam was willing to accept the American negro – because he grew up with them. I doubt he would have wanted his daughters to marry one, though. For myself, I believe that anyone who thinks “races“ are anything more than cultural constructs is a racist. Thinking that the “other” is perhaps treated unfairly does not excuse a person – they are still racist.