It seems to me that Twain himself would be able to masterfully point out the most serious flaw in the arguments of his current detractors... they seem to suggest by their objections that somehow the denial of the reality of an old way of looking at things will somehow prevent it from occurring again. They leave no room for the truth that it is ignorance of the world around them (past and present) which tends to lead to such behaviors in the future. Are they also suggesting that though THEY were taught these "contemptible" works, and yet did not come to accept racism as a "given" in life, that today's minds are somehow so inferior that they would be incapable of the same developmental process? As a secondary point on this current discussion topic, it has been my experience that it is not only Twain who is being less taught, but many other "classic" writers. I heard a substitute in our building issue a reading assignment to some seniors on behalf of the regular teachers, adding,"these are what *I* learned as 'old' works. My own background is in 20th century liturature...there you will find much better examples of writing about the same ideas." This is the sort of attitude which erodes Twain's popularity as much as the "PC" crowd...indeed, this is the sort of attitude which hampers real education as much as any other!