Is Mark Twain a Racist?
Is Mark Twain A racist?
Many believe certain things about Twain's "Great American novel," makes it a racist book, like the overuse of the word, "nigger," and the given depiction of the black slave, Jim. However, there is a substantial amount of evidence that this book was not written out of hate, but in hope that Twain could change the ideals of skin color of the white people around him.
The first and foremost question most people ask when they read the novel is, "was Mark Twain a racist?" There are assumptions that because of Twain's use of edgy language and writing in the point of view of racists, that he was a racist himself.
Much of the article is Twain going into detail about the type of environment and adults this young boy has been raised with, and how racism against the Chinese is commonplace. For example, the Chinese are taxed twice as much as all the other races to mine for gold. Also, when they are caught stealing from a mine, they are hung. However, when the same happens to the other races, they are only asked to leave the mining camp (Galaxy). In one part, the narrator shares,
"...[the boy] found out that in many districts of the vast Pacific coast, so strong is the wild, free love of justice in the hearts of the people, that whenever any secret and mysterious crime is committed, they say, "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall," and go straightway and swing a Chinaman." (Galaxy)
The reason why Twain lists these observations is to show the city of San Francisco that it is not the boy who's at fault, because, "What had the child's education been? How should he suppose it was wrong to stone a Chinaman (Galaxy)?" In fact, in one part of the article, the boy says, ""Ah, there goes a Chinaman! God will not love me if I do not stone him (Galaxy)." With this article, Twain hoped that he could allow the adult of the city to see how foolish they have been acting towards the Chinese and it was not the boy who is acting childish, but it is the men
Many believe certain things about Twain's "Great American novel," makes it a racist book, like the overuse of the word, "nigger," and the given depiction of the black slave, Jim. However, there is a substantial amount of evidence that this book was not written out of hate, but in hope that Twain could change the ideals of skin color of the white people around him.
The first and foremost question most people ask when they read the novel is, "was Mark Twain a racist?" There are assumptions that because of Twain's use of edgy language and writing in the point of view of racists, that he was a racist himself.
Much of the article is Twain going into detail about the type of environment and adults this young boy has been raised with, and how racism against the Chinese is commonplace. For example, the Chinese are taxed twice as much as all the other races to mine for gold. Also, when they are caught stealing from a mine, they are hung. However, when the same happens to the other races, they are only asked to leave the mining camp (Galaxy). In one part, the narrator shares,
"...[the boy] found out that in many districts of the vast Pacific coast, so strong is the wild, free love of justice in the hearts of the people, that whenever any secret and mysterious crime is committed, they say, "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall," and go straightway and swing a Chinaman." (Galaxy)
The reason why Twain lists these observations is to show the city of San Francisco that it is not the boy who's at fault, because, "What had the child's education been? How should he suppose it was wrong to stone a Chinaman (Galaxy)?" In fact, in one part of the article, the boy says, ""Ah, there goes a Chinaman! God will not love me if I do not stone him (Galaxy)." With this article, Twain hoped that he could allow the adult of the city to see how foolish they have been acting towards the Chinese and it was not the boy who is acting childish, but it is the men