Erm, yeah ... about Elvis:
“Dr. W.A. Zuber, an African American physician in Tupelo, Mississippi (where Presley was reared) recounted how Presley used to "go 'round to Negro sanctified meetings." This last comment gives insight into the persistence of the rumor.Elvis not only attended "sanctified meetings" in African American churches -- where he was influenced by Gospel music and Slave Spirituals -- but he listened to and was shaped by Black "secular" music, especially the Blues. Presley regularly paid homage to his "Black roots" and claimed "he could never hope to equal the musical achievements of Fats Domino or the Inkspot's Bill Kenny," but this did not satisfy people who believed that Presley's status as a musical and cultural icon was due, in no small part, to his white skin. He was resented for "covering" the songs of Black singers -- and for getting the acclaim that was denied to African American performers.There were many Black singers with seductive physical movements and sensual lyrics, but their dynamic sexuality was threatening to many White Americans in the 1950s and early 1960s. Presley took the swinging jump and the playful (sometimes mischievous) sexuality of rhythm and blues music into mainstream American living rooms. While talented Black entertainers labored in smaller venues -- sometimes in relative obscurity -- Presley became a wealthy and famous international star. So, some Blacks resented his success (and him), and this made a story about him using a racist remark believable.“
I just saw a post about Presley and the comments under it got really toxic really fast, making a fruitful discussion nearly impossible.
So, I thought about sharing some part of an article about this subject very quick.
You can find it here: https://www.ferris.edu/HTMLS/news/jimcrow/question/2006/march.htm
Hope this helps.
Be excellent to each others.
