Is Huck Finn racist?

Whenever I teach a book like Huck Finn in class we have a long talk about context. Huck Finn takes place during pre-civil war time. This should be enough to put Twain's writings into context. Although extremely offensive, like "nigger" were the norms. Black stereotypes proliferate the book but here Twain is just amping up his level of satire. Twain does this to show how hypocritical slavery was in the South. He also illuminates how black people were treated in wider America, "the land of the free".

Whenever I teach a book like Huck Finn in class we have a long talk about context. Huck Finn takes place during pre-civil war time. This should be enough to put Twain's writings into perspective. Although extremely offensive, words like "nigger" were the norms. Black stereotypes proliferate the book but here Twain is just amping up his level of satire. Twain does this to show how hypocritical slavery was in the South. He also illuminates how black people were treated in wider America, "the land of the free."