So, yeah. I’m part of the problem. Elvis Presley was one of the most famous people in the world. In the minds of many, he is synonymous with an era of American culture. He is still called the King of Rock and Roll. Ladies swooned, men wanted to be him, and his legend lives on. I’ve never been to Times Square or Vegas, but I’ve been told I can find someone impersonating Elvis at all times.
However, for many Black people, including myself, Elvis is remembered differently. He is remembered as a racist thief, and he is just an early example of the stuff that continues to happen today.
Turns out, maybe we are a little wrong about Elvis.
Survey and why Black people hate Elvis.
“The only thing a Black person can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes” -Elvis Presley
“Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant s- to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother f- him and John Wayne” -Chuck D
These are my first two memories of Elvis. I imagine I knew the imagery before this: the white suit, the pompadour hair. I’m sure I knew the legend of Elvis for these lines to stick, but this is what stuck. Let’s look at each one.
Based on the little I knew about Elvis, the first line just made sense. Elvis was most popular in the 50s and 60s, a time when being racist wasn’t exactly frowned upon. (Kind of like 2026, but that’s a different article.)
He took Black music and Black swagger and made money from it in a way a Black artist couldn’t at the time. Of course he said this. I didn’t feel the need to fact-check, and I went on believing it for decades.
Although the rumor was originally debunked by Jet magazine in 1957, it continues to circulate in the Black community.
The second quote is from Fight the Power, a 1989 song by Public Enemy. Alas, for decades this was just more confirmation that Elvis was an obvious racist.
It wasn’t until a recent conversation with Skeptical White Male that I realized Chuck D rolled back his comments a bit. This line stemmed from frustration toward Elvis’s unearned legacy. Why was this white man the king of Rock when all of these Black artists were doing it before him and still doing it in the late ‘80s?
The frustration is understandable, and I can’t blame Chuck D for my ignorance. I should’ve taken the time to explore Elvis’s past myself.
However, I am not alone in my ignorance. I asked about 20 Black people to share their first thoughts about Elvis. Two of them didn’t know enough about him to comment. Two of them said he was the King of Rock and made amazing music. The rest of them called him a thief, a racist, or in most cases, both.
Obviously, this is a small sample size in my little Southern bubble. Most of the people I spoke to were in their 30s and 40s, with two being in their mid 20s and two being in their sixties.
Only the older participants had positive thoughts about Elvis. The only other person who had something positive started by calling him a thief, but also added that the history is more complicated than that.
What was Elvis really like
Though I’m not the first king of controversy
I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley
To do Black music so selfishly
And use it to get myself wealthy-Eminem
As someone who never really dug into Elvis’s history, I was surprised to learn he was closer to Eminem than a talented Klan member. Elvis grew up in a mostly Black neighborhood in Mississippi and even attended Black churches, something that is even rare for a white man to do in the present.
Elvis was shaped by Black music and Black culture. Nevertheless, there are plenty of people who benefit from Black people while hating Black people. That is American as apple pie.
However, Elvis showed actual love to the community. He admitted that he didn’t create Rock, but its roots run through Black people and even back to slavery.
Although Elvis never took the extra step of loudly supporting Civil Rights, according to the Jim Crow Museum, there is evidence of Elvis donating to civil rights organizations and consistently treating Black people with respect.
Many of Elvis’s Rock peers appreciated his work, including legends like B.B. King, who said, “Elvis didn’t steal any music from anyone. He just had his own interpretation of the music he’d grown up on; same is true for everyone. I think Elvis had integrity.”
Others like Big Momma Thornton, the original creator of Hound Dog, understandably grew bitter. When asked about the song, she would say, “the record I made Elvis Presley rich on….a song I got robbed of.”
This is the key to Elvis’s legacy. Even if he wasn’t explicitly racist, he took Black music, even existing songs, and gained fame and money the original creators will never see. How harshly should he be judged for this?
The legacy of cultural appropriation
Cultural appropriation is a complicated topic, and in a social media world, everyone has their own definition. Cultural appropriation is when a dominant group takes elements of a minority culture without understanding or appreciation and usually to profit from it. This profit can be financial, social, and so on.
For example, when white women like Kim Kardashian wear braids, it is considered beautiful and high-fashion, while Black women are often called ghetto and even have their jobs threatened.
Another common trend is white women getting rich from TikTok dances with Black creators.
Like Elvis, these people are likely not actively racist or purposely attempting to overshadow the creators, but they are benefiting from a racist system.
For the time period, it sounds like Elvis was a decent guy. I’m not sure I would call him an ally, but he was down. I don’t know if he was invited to the cookout, but he was definitely getting a plate.
The frustration and the attempt to damage his legacy are also understandable. I’m not an Elvis historian, but even he admitted he did not earn the King of Rock moniker. People like Chuck D and Big Momma Thornton just wanted to even out the playing field. However, they did such a good job that Elvis’s name may be permanently tarnished in the Black community.
This is me doing my part. What is the verdict?
Elvis was less racist than I thought. Most people who knew him only complain about the songs he stole and his unearned legacy. He could have done more to support Black people and give back for the stolen music. In short, Elvis was just a man who was raised in a unique environment and did what he loved. America, and the world, provided him with a power he didn’t wield appropriately, but if we are being honest, most people would fail that test.