![]() It ain't my business what he did in private. Sammy Davis Jr : 'I have a respect for Elvis and my friendship. : Boston Globe Interview by Renee Graham, published on August 11, 2002. Ilva Price, an African American now living in West Memphis, TN, recalled how her father, angry about rumours (later found by 'Jet' magazine to be fabricated), that Elvis had stolen 'their' music and was a racist, quickly turned off the radio when he noticed her daughter's reaction to his voice, then called him a 'cracker', a racial epithet as disgusting as any other. A Catholic weekly ran its criticism under the banner, 'Beware of Elvis Presley'. One critic summed up his performance as 'the kind of animalism that should be confined to dives and bordellos'. Often the criticism had a racist edge, since Elvis was singing what was considered 'black music'. Elvis was simply the number one guy and therefore got the most attention.įollowing his 'Milton Berle' show, Elvis was savaged by critics who described his leg-shaking, hip-swivelling performance as 'noxious' and his singing as 'caterwauling'. ![]() Carl Perkins was warned to not do his show. And not just Elvis any white person singing rock 'n' roll. This was the cover for what was really meant, what was really feared, and that was that Elvis would lead to equal rights and racial integration. When the 'establishment' accused Elvis Presley of being vulgar, of being deliberately sexual, they did not mean this. It's as stupid now as it was then, but here is our definitive response to this nonsense. Yes, we know that the notion that Elvis was a racist is preposterous. In 1957, a magazine printed a lie about Elvis, not the first one, not the last one, but one that has been often passed on through the years and at times artists of today like to throw out the slur when needing a headline, so there are those that believe Elvis was racist.
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