Racism Allegation Contradicts Presley's Life

Above, a Sun Studios display of Elvis with Junior Parker (left) and Bobby Blue Bland. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

An interesting article by Roy Black of The Gleaner (Jamaica, Wisconsin) on the alleged racism of Elvis Presley was posted today.

In it, he wrote:

Last week's Music Diaries gave a short insight into Elvis Presley's spiritual leanings. His association with gospel concerts and gospel recordings as a teenager portrayed him as a godly man who would be the last to indulge in racism. Yet, I have grown up from a youth knowing that Presley was condemned by many Jamaicans for certain derogatory comments in the late 1950s. 

The official website Elvis Australia - Elvis and Racism, the ultimate definitive guide, quotes a source (which they do not reveal) that accused Presley of saying that "the only thing Negroes can do for me is shine my shoes and buy my records". But the same website has produced glaring evidence to refute that comment and render it fallacious. 

Photographed in a jovial mood with several outstanding black entertainers of that time, including female gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, Brook Benton, Jackie Wilson, Sammy Davis Jr, Johnny Mathis, Fats Domino, and B.B. King, Presley was portrayed as a white man who had a black heart. The website states that "in heavily segregated Memphis of that day, Presley was regularly seen at black-only events". 

The white boy thus became hooked on the music of pioneering black artistes being played on the radio, got immersed in black Memphis blues clubs, and absorbed the music of local impoverished black communities. It was to Memphis that his father had moved the family while Elvis was still a pre-teen to escape the poverty that they were experiencing in Mississippi, where he was born into a poor sharecropping family on January 8, 1935. 

I have grown with the music and kept abreast of Presley's development and easily appreciate that most of what was said about Presley and his racist leanings was nonsense. For whatever reason, from my viewpoint, he came across with a 'black sound' on That's All Right Mama in July of 1954 for Sun Records. It was, therefore, inconsistent with his upbringing that Presley could have indulged in such misdeeds.

Black failed to note that Presley shopped for his clothing mainly at stores in the black areas of Memphis. He preferred their styles over the styles found in white areas. This also refutes the racism accusation of some detractors. (See Elvis By The Presleys DVD.

I did some additional digging.

Jet magazine looked into the alleged "shine my shoes" comment and asked Presley about it (Source: Creative Loafing):

I learned that the infamous “shine my shoes” quote was never verified, and was told second-hand to what basically was a 1950s tabloid rag out of Boston called Sepia. During the same time that Elvis supposedly gave this “quote,” he did an interview with Jet (yes, the black-owned Jet magazine) in which he spoke openly about the controversy and the origins of rock ’n’ roll as black music. “I never said anything like that, and people who know me know that I wouldn't have said it,” he told Jet. “A lot of people seem to think I started this business. But rock ’n’ roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that kind of music like colored people. Let's face it: I can't sing like Fats Domino can. I know that.” 

I found quotes from notable black musicians and celebrities, detailing their experiences with Elvis, which ranged from respectful to affectionate. James Brown said, “I wasn't just a fan, I was his brother.” B.B. King was also close to Presley throughout his life and Ike Turner reportedly let Elvis carry his band's gear early on and claimed he was the first man to put Elvis on a stage. Muhammad Ali, who let Elvis live with him while he trained for a bout against Joe Frazier, said, “Elvis was my close personal friend. I don't admire nobody, but Elvis Presley was the sweetest, most humble and nicest man you'd want to know.”

To read more, go here.