Was Elvis Presley racist?

[ReD_ReBeL]

So b4 i was reading about Elvis on Wikipedia becoz im quite into his earlier music b4 he got all Las vegasy, and i came to a bit which says..

"A southern background combined with a performing style largely associated with African Americans had let to "bitter criticism by those who feel he stole a good thing," as Tan magazine surmised.[28] No wonder that Elvis became "a symbol of all that was oppressive to the black experience in the Western Hemisphere".[29] What is more, Presley was widely believed to have said, "The only thing black people can do for me is shine my shoes and buy my records."[30] It was claimed that the alleged comment was made either in Boston or on Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person.[31] A black southerner in the late 1980s even captured that sentiment: "To talk to Presley about blacks was like talking to Adolph Hitler about the Jews."

This came to a shock(if its actualy true) to me cause from what i've watched/read about Elvis is tht in his youth he spent most of his spair time with african-americans and picked up his style of music from them.
Do u think this is just a rumour to try and discredit him?

[Hampton]

Well, here's more from the Wiki page:


In 1956, a Boston reporter said that Elvis had said, "the only thing niggers can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes." The claim has since been proved untrue (in part by the fact that Elvis was never in Boston until 1971), but it remains a popular urban legend.

In fact, Elvis admired African-Americans.

As early as 1956, he sponsered an All-Negro Day at the Memphis Zoo. In the '50s, a DJ refused to interview Elvis because he was a "nigger-lover". Elvis told guitarist Scotty Moore, "Go tell that son of a *****, I'm damn proud to be a nigger lover!"

He had close friendships with B.B. King, Sammy Davis Jr., James Brown, Fats Domino, Mahalia Jackson, Jim Brown, and Muhammmad Ali. After Jackie Wilson went into a coma in the '70s, Elvis supported his family financially.

Elvis requested to meet Martin Luther King in the mid-60s, but never got the oppritunity. His song If I Can Dream is partly about King's assassanation. Elvis later quoted part of King's I Have A Dream speeh on stage.

Elvis was accompanied on stage by The Sweet Inspirations from 1969 until his death. Once, while in Texas, the owner of a venue refused to allow them to go on stage because, he didn't "allow niggers in my arena". Elvis replied, "No Sweets, no Elvis." He also told a fan once to take a Confederate flag down from a balcony at a concert and replace it with the American flag.

also from an Elvis fan site: Here (http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/legacy_cloudy_through_lens_of_race.shtml)


While Elvis rocketed to stardom, resentment grew among talented musicians whose similar-sounding records weren't getting the same play. The hip swiveling that merely disgusted conservative whites amounted to theft for blacks. More than one player laid claim to Elvis' gimmicks.

Blues shouter Wynonie 'Mr. Blues' Harris told Sepia: "I originated that style 10 years ago. The current crop of shouters are rank impostors. They have no right to call themselves the kings of rock and roll. I am the king of rock and roll."

In the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, guitarist Calvin New born said Elvis hung out in a black bar outside Memphis where he played. "He would sit there and watch me every Wednesday and Friday night," he said. "I'd wiggle my legs and swivel my hips and make love to the guitar."


In 1956, the Amsterdam News said Elvis had "copied Bo Diddley's style to the letter."

Flamboyant singer Little Richard pointed out stinging economic disparities: "Elvis was paid $25,000 for doing three songs in a movie and I only got $5,000, and if it wasn't for me, Elvis would starve."

But Elvis also couldn't change the times. In the same month of the Sepia article, singer Nat King Cole was famously attacked onstage by five racists during a concert in Birmingham. The 3,000 white audience members booed the assailants, but did not intervene during the beating, which the men claimed was to protest "bop and Negro music."

There's no doubt he borrowed or stole from black performers at the time, that was the norm I suppose, but I don't know if he was a racist.

Also a good article here. (http://arts.guardian.co.uk/elvis/story/0,,774842,00.html)


Elvis also signifies the foul way so many black writers and performers, such as Little Richard, were treated by the music industry. The enduring image of Elvis is a constant reflection of society's then refusal to accept anything other than the non-threatening and subservient negro: Sammy Davies Jnr and Nat King Cole. The Elvis myth to this day clouds the true picture of rock'n'roll and leaves its many originators without due recognition. So what is left for black people to celebrate? How he admirably borrowed our songs, attitude and dance moves?