re Re: NP: Twain, Part One and more

[David Morris]

>From: Bandwraith at aol.com
>
>>From: "David Morris" <fqmorris at hotmail.com>
>>[Had Twain adapted a black writer's (or speakers) fiction into a form 
>>acceptable to whites, then he could be said to have exploited them.]
>
>Twain was more exploitative than the white rock 'n rollers. Twain did not 
>purloin primarily the art of 'niggers' and turn it into a successful 
>career, he tried to steal their souls. Some would say he WAS successful.
>

"Steal" and "purloin" imply harm done and thus the negative sense of the 
word "exploit."  I think you are playing fast and loose with words and 
analogies, and are thus wrong in your charges.

>[ That he wrote a sensitive fiction with a sensitive black character cannot 
>be likened to the above at all.  Are men exploiting women when they create 
>a women character (or vice versa)?]
>
>You bet, especially if it's successful.

See my comment above.

>[If anything, Twain was educating a white audience about its own racism, 
>and thereby helping real black people.]

And therefore he wasn't exploiting blacks in the negative sense of the 
definition (see below).

Main Entry: ex·ploit
Pronunciation: ik-'sploit, 'ek-"
Function: transitive verb
Date: 1838
1 : to make productive use of : UTILIZE <exploiting your talents> <exploit 
your opponent's weakness>
2 : to make use of meanly or unjustly for one's own advantage <exploiting 
migrant farm workers>

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