Racist authors, assigned by racist teachers, approved by racist parents.

Not sure Mark Twain belongs in the "racist authors" bin.... : \

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~Hyper/HNS/Indians/intro2.html

Hmmm... not saying no because that definitely looks bad... but given Twain's general reputation as a satirist/social critic/stealth shit-stirrer and concerns about potential cherry-picking to support an assertion, more reading around the passage in question is indicated. It's been years since I read Tom Sawyer; looks a revisit is due.

Tom Sawyer isn't great, but Huck Finn is a masterwork, and the character of Jim at least complicates the picture of Twain as a simple racist. (Of course, I like Kipling too -- my literary taste isn't progressive.)

To put it more succinctly.

No, I said "concerns about potential cherry-picking to support an assertion". I'm undecided on the matter and motivated to delve further into it before making any pronouncement of yea or nay. As was said, as is known, Twain was a cutting social critic who frequently twisted racist tropes back on themselves as means of exposing the dark underside of social conditions of the day. Without an in-depth examination of the character in question, more reading around the subject, it's not possible to make a determination.

wait, you didn't learn about slavery in school? I was taught on the subject in the first grade.

I did, but now conservative snowflakes are saying you shouldn't.