Posted on 11/17/2018 11:00:03 AM PST by ETL
Even if Elvis popularized an art form that people of another race largely invented, it’s hard to argue that a lots and lots of successful black artists didn’t walk right through the doors he opened.
Presley was initially a hero among black musicians in Memphis for that reason, and there’s no reason to think Elvis himself was racist.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
In 1956, it was reported the ‘“the rock ’n’ roll phenomenon cracked Memphis’s segregation laws” by attending the Memphis Fairgrounds amusement park “during what is designated as ‘colored night.’”
Elvis’s personal reputation for being opposed to racism is marred only by one damnable lie that he never said.
Rock ‘n’ roll has been around for the better part of a century. If you’re invested in making Elvis an avatar for racial resentments more than 40 years after his death, you’re, perhaps unwittingly, making the problems of contemporary divisions worse. Music is one of a precious few cultural forces still holding us together. It’s not zero sum; we can acknowledge that more credit is owed to black musical pioneers and acknowledge that Elvis was remarkably talented man a who made a singular connection with tens of millions of Americans that went well beyond race. Recognizing Elvis doesn’t negate the fact that Chuck D deserves credit for, say, powerfully calling out Arizona for initially refusing to recognize MLK Day.
I’m quite certain that race had nothing to with what music my grandfather enjoyed (I suggest younger readers Google ‘Charley Pride’). And as a testament to Elvis being deserving of a Presidential Medal of Freedom, I would like to submit my dying grandfather’s deep appreciation.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
Amen. Wonderful posting.
I just wish we could stop hanging on race, and just join the basic GOOD European/Christian culture created here. Forget your race and join the culture.
How about also because he was vocally TALENTED?!
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