Elvis Presley & Sammy Davis Jr.
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Thank you to all those that have sent in positive feedback on this article. It was a real labor of love and a big challenge really, I found it such an interesting topic as well as one of importance.
David Troedson
Elvis Presley and Racism
In April 1957, Sepia magazine, a white-owned sensationalist monthly for black readers, took up a discussion, 'How Negroes Feel About Elvis', as controversial then as it is today: the case of a white kid - Elvis Presley - who adopted black music and became the most successful artist of his time. Read the article.
Feedback
Comments : Highest regards to the Author. There is a lot of work here.
It is also a very fine read.
Thank you. I continue to be very proud of our site. Angela Greenham [Australia]
Comments : Congratulations on your article, Elvis Presley and Racism. This was the most all-encompassing and definitive article I have ever read on this subject. Strangely, the rumour does still persist, but I have always known Elvis was not racist. Thank you for the wonderful job you have done in writing this article.
Linda Sukla [United States]
Comments : Really nice article. I do believe Elvis had genuine respect for people regardless of their colour, and that's one of the features I most admire in him. Maria Carvalho [Brazil]
Comments : I remember reading a article years ago when Elvis was to perform in the Houston Asterdome. There was an issue of the management with Elvis' backup singers the Sweet Inspirations. Elvis said very sternly if they can't perform I won't perform. I know that Elvis Presley was no racist. Daniel Craycraft
Comments : David ... a very comprehensive piece on a perplexing myth. I really enjoyed your article. It reminds me, that I had been personally challenged and confronted by this very myth .... in the Operating Room where I worked for 47yrs. My OR room was known as 'Graceland 2'... by many folks, because, if you walked into my room ... Elvis would most likely be singing!! One day, about 6 or 7 years ago , a young black surgeon told me, (after I asked him if he enjoyed Elvis) "I like some of his songs but, ... You know he was 'RACIST!' I looked him straight in the eye and said, 'I know that Elvis was NOT racist. All you have to do is read a little about Elvis and you will know that that is Not true'. 'I have read it ... I read in a book, (in black and white) that he was a Racist', he replied, with a smile on his face. As if , to say ... 'Gotcha!!' A perfect example of what one simple ... LIE ... can do ... especially if printed! I am sure the young doctor in question still feels the same ... wish I could present your article to him, as a rebuttal to what he had read, so long ago! TYVM! Clementine, St. Louis, USA
The Past 12 Months
In the past 12 months we have had just under 3 million Unique Visitors to www.elvis.com.au, with a high 41,981 on August 17, 2012 [AEST] So the August 16 anniversary. This however is well short of the all time record of 109,608 Unique Visitors on January 8, 9, 10, 2010 to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the birth of the King Of Rock 'N' Roll. With the huge increase in visitor traffic Elvis Australia has recorded an all time high number of 'unique' visitors for the a month of January 2010 with over 380,000 people visiting our website.