Here's a bit of trivia: One of the first people to do serious research that fractured the "science" of racial distinctions was William Dean Howells's grandson, William W. Howells, who I knew. In his old age, his appearance and posture began to look more and more like his grandfather's. Kevin @ Mac Donnell Rare Books 9307 Glenlake Drive Austin TX 78730 512-345-4139 Member: ABAA, ILAB, BSA You can browse our books at: www.macdonnellrarebooks.com ------ Original Message ------ From: "Scott Holmes" <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] Sent: 8/1/2022 2:37:43 PM Subject: Racism, in general >The so-called races that humans have been grouped into are cultural constructs and can not be reliably used to distinguish different ethnographic and/or cultural groups and definitely cannot be used to separate people into distinct biological groups. Variations in melanin is notoriously variable throughout the world - not specific people of African descent. Anyone that believes racial groupings are valid is a racist. Sam Clemens was a racist, but as he got older the differences in the so-called racial distinctions became less important to him - except perhaps for a possible sense of guilt. He most definitely maintained that Native Americans were an inferior peoples. > >Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remains my favorite all-time book. > >-- /Unaffiliated Geographer and Twain aficionado/ >