beliefs, like his innovative racial beliefs, are not "likely to be adapted into an attraction at Disneyland (Baetzhold 0)." In his autobiography Twain wrote, "All the negroes were friends of ours, and with those of our own age we were in face comrades (Neider 5)." He tempered this broad statement with, "color and condition imposed a subtle line which both parties were conscious of and which rendered complete fusion impossible (Neider 5)." During Twain’s childhood the institution of slavery was accepted by his parents, the pulpit, and promoted as part of American History. There was little violence associated with slavery because the slaves were part of the family. Although he commented on the history of slavery Twain never attempted to justify it. While discussing his childhood he talked about a slave named Uncle Dan’l, "whose heart was honest and simple and knew no guile (Neider 6)." Uncle Dan’l, Twain mentioned, is the basis for Jim (Adventures of Huckelberry Finn) and many other characters. Twain rose above the beliefs of his time because of the compassion and admiration for the underdog instilled by a mother who "was the natural ally and friend of the friendless (Neider 26)." He wrote that his mother even prayed for Satan. He held a deep reverence for his mother but recognized that "she was not conscious that slavery was a bald, grotesque, and unwarrantable usurpation (Neider 30)." Some scholars focus on comments by Twain such as, "It was on the farm that I got my appreciation for his race and certain of its fine qualities (Neder 6)." They seek to interpret this ambiguous statement as patronizing blacks by claiming the entire race only has "certain" fine qualities. That argument reaches a too far. More objectionable is the allegation that in the Louis Budd version of Mark Twain: Collected Tales, Sketches, Speeches, and Essays Twain "picked up the ugly habit of depicting the corrupt American as ‘colored’...
