[78-L] KKK records

[Michael Biel]

Martha wrote:
>  Eddie Cantor covered this, when he discussed the good-natured fun the 
> immigrants in NYC had when they wrote silly songs about each other (and 
> themselves) .  If you truly HATE someone, you do not write vaudeville songs 
> about quaint accents and sauerkraut and Levinsky's wedding, etc - people 
> will just laugh, not hate.   To truly hate, you must ignore them and then 
> deny them admission to your society.
>
>   
However, Eddie Cantor knew first-hand that not all was good-natured 
fun.  He worked with Walter C. Kelly who recorded the series of 
Virginian Judge records.  Kelly WAS a racist, and a very hateful one.  
Also in the Follies was Bert Williams, and Kelly was openly hateful to 
Williams, and there are stories about how Cantor stuck up for Williams 
against Kelly.

If you want to hear the ultimate in praise about our ethnic difference 
in those days, Listen to Nora Bayes' Young America on a 12-inch purple 
label Victor.  Wonderful record. 
All I'm able to find on the web are these short excerpts.
http://www.amazon.com/Together-Alone-Nora-Bayes-Norworth/dp/B0006I7EQY
http://www.hbdirect.com/album_detail.php?pid=549349

Mike Biel  mbiel at mbiel.com