Was Samuel langhorne clemens racist

Answer 1

In his books Clemens demonstrated a great empathy for people of other races including those in "inferior" positions like slaves in the old South. In Pudd'nhead Wilson he shows that racial attributes are a matter of birth and education rather than genetic absolutes.

However, due to the language conventions of the time some terms he uses (based on the way speople spoke at the time of the stories) are not "politically correct" in today's world. Examples of this would be "Injum Joe" as a character in Tom Sawyers and (what is described today as) "the N word" in Huckleberry Finn. Some commentators have seized on this as racist.

Answer 2

Yes, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, held racist views common in his time, which is reflected in some of his works like "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." However, he also evolved in his thinking over time and became an advocate for social justice and African American rights later in his life.