e old adage about bringing a horse to water is true because you can’t force somebody to learn if they’re not disposed to. Twain must’ve known that making someone learn something means you must let them discover it for themselves rather than trying to ram it down their throats. I wish Twain had written a letter about what the policy should be toward the Natives, Chinese, or former slaves but his work insinuates that it would be similar in content to Concerning the Jews. Eric Lott, author of Love and Theft: Black Minstrelsy and the American Working Class, repeatedly attacks Twain for his use of blackface minstrelsy stereotyping. Twain did mention in his autobiography that, "if I could have the nigger show back again in its pristine quality and perfection that I should have but little further use for the opera (Neider 59, Wonham 30)." The reasoning behind Twain’s admiration for the blackface performance might stem from his extreme progressiveness as well as his hankering for revival from the past. It was miraculous for a white male born in the South during 1835 to think as progressively as Twain did. The influence of his unintellectual yet strongly compassionate mother could be the cause of his growth. In his autobiography, Twain penned the story of Sandy, another slave known early in his life. He remarked on one incident in which Sandy bothered him so much with his constant singing that he pleaded with him mother to shut the slave up. With sorrow in her voice Mrs. Clemens responded that she "cannot bear it" when Sandy is quiet because she fears he’s thinking. She continued by informing Twain that Sandy will never see his mother again (Neider 7). In the next paragraph Twain mentioned that he also used Sandy in Tom Sawyer. He blithely wrote, "I tried to get him to whitewash the fence . . . I don’t remember what name I called him (Neider 7)." Lott further writes that, "Ralph Ellison [Author of Invisible Ma...
