Editing Nat King Cole (section)

===Experiences with racism===
In August 1948, Cole purchased a house from Col. Harry Gantz, the ex-husband of silent film actress [[Lois Weber]], in the all-white [[Hancock Park, Los Angeles|Hancock Park]] neighborhood of Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, a [[Cross burning|burning cross]] was placed on his front lawn and the [[Homeowner association|property-owners association]] told Cole they did not want any "undesirables" moving into the neighborhood. Cole responded, "Neither do I. And if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I'll be the first to complain."<ref name="Levinson2005">{{cite book |last=Levinson |first=Peter J. |title=September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zG-UYr7vBb4C&pg=PA89 |access-date=February 19, 2019 |year=2005 |publisher=Taylor Trade |isbn=978-1589791633 |pages=89– |archive-date=August 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806181823/https://books.google.com/books?id=zG-UYr7vBb4C&pg=PA89 |url-status=live }}</ref> His dog died after eating poisoned meat, something likely to be connected to his moving to the neighborhood.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lewis|first=Andy|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com:443/news/general-news/las-ugly-jim-crow-history-774688/|title=L.A.'s Ugly Jim Crow History: Nat King Cole's Dog Poisoned in Hancock Park|work=[[Hollywood Reporter]]|date=February 19, 2015|access-date=June 2, 2022}}</ref>

In 1956, Cole was contracted to perform in Cuba. He wanted to stay at the [[Hotel Nacional de Cuba]] in Havana but was refused because it operated a [[racial segregation|color bar]]. Cole honored his contract, and the concert at the [[Tropicana Club]] was a huge success. The following year, Cole returned to Cuba for another concert, singing many songs in Spanish.

====1956 Birmingham assault====
{{Further|Original Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy#Rock music and Cole assault}}

Cole was assaulted during a concert on April 10, 1956, in Birmingham, Alabama, while singing the song "Little Girl" on stage with the [[Ted Heath (bandleader)|Ted Heath]] Band. After photographs of Cole with white female fans were circulated bearing such incendiary, boldface captions as "Cole and His White Women" and "Cole and Your Daughter",<ref name="Burford">{{cite journal |last1=Burford |first1=Mark |title=Sam Cooke as Pop Album Artist—A Reinvention in Three Songs |journal=Journal of the American Musicological Society |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=113–178 |doi=10.1525/jams.2012.65.1.113 |date=April 2012|jstor=10.1525/jams.2012.65.1.113 }}</ref> three men belonging to the [[Original Ku Klux Klan of the Confederacy|North Alabama Citizens Council]] attacked Cole in an apparent attempt to kidnap him.

The three assailants ran down the aisles of the auditorium towards Cole. Local law enforcement quickly ended their invasion of the stage, but not until Cole was toppled from his piano bench and received a slight injury to his back. He did not finish the concert.<ref name="eyewitness">Eyewitness account published in the ''[[The Birmingham News|Birmingham News]]''. Felts, Jim. Letter to the editor. December 15, 2007.</ref> Police later found rifles, a [[Baton (law enforcement)#Blackjacks and saps|blackjack]], and [[brass knuckles]], in a car outside the venue.<ref>[https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/apr/10 On this day (Apr 10, 1956) - White Men Attack Nat King Cole During Performance in Birmingham, Alabama], from the [[Equal Justice Initiative]]</ref> A fourth member of the group was later arrested. All were tried and convicted.<ref name="eyewitness" />

Six men, including 23-year-old Willie Richard Vinson, were formally charged with assault with intent to murder Cole, but the charges against four of them was later changed to conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor. The original plan to attack Cole included 150 men from Birmingham and nearby towns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/12/nat-king-cole-attacked-on-stage-archive-1956|title=Nat 'King' Cole attacked on stage – archive, 12 April 1956|website=[[TheGuardian.com]] |date=April 12, 2018|access-date=September 17, 2019|archive-date=September 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927035913/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/12/nat-king-cole-attacked-on-stage-archive-1956|url-status=live}}</ref>

"I can't understand it," Cole said afterwards. "I have not taken part in any protests. Nor have I joined an organization fighting segregation. Why should they attack me?" Cole wanted to forget the incident and continued to play for segregated audiences in the American South. He said he could not change the situation in a day. He contributed money to the [[Montgomery bus boycott]] and previously sued Northern hotels that had hired him but refused to serve him.

====Criticism and involvement in the Civil Rights Movement====
[[Thurgood Marshall]], then-the chief legal counsel of the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People|NAACP]], said "All Cole needs to complete his role as an [[Uncle Tom]] is a [[banjo]]." [[Roy Wilkins]], executive secretary of the NAACP, wrote him a telegram that said:
{{blockquote|You have not been a crusader or engaged in an effort to change the customs or laws of the South. That responsibility, newspapers quote you as saying, you leave to the other guys. That attack upon you clearly indicates that organized bigotry makes no distinction between those who do not actively challenge racial discrimination and those who do. This is a fight which none of us can escape. We invite you to join us in a crusade against racism.<ref name="Altschuler2003">{{cite book|last=Altschuler|first=Glenn C.|title=All Shook Up: How Rock 'n' Roll Changed America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMyC2FndXwkC|access-date=February 19, 2019|year= 2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0198031918|archive-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806202102/https://books.google.com/books?id=lMyC2FndXwkC|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

''[[The Chicago Defender]]'' said that Cole's performances for all-white audiences were an insult to his race. The ''[[New York Amsterdam News]]'' said that "thousands of Harlem blacks who have worshiped at the shrine of singer Nat King Cole turned their backs on him this week as the noted crooner turned his back on the NAACP and said that he will continue to play to [[Jim Crow laws|Jim Crow]] audiences". To play "Uncle Nat's" discs, wrote a commentator in ''The American Negro'', "would be supporting his 'traitor' ideas and narrow way of thinking".

Deeply hurt by the criticism in the black press, Cole was chastened. Emphasizing his opposition to [[racial segregation]] "in any form", he agreed to join other entertainers in boycotting segregated venues. He paid $500 to become a lifetime member of the Detroit branch of the NAACP. Until his death in 1965, Cole was an active and visible participant in the [[civil rights movement]], playing an important role in planning the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom|March on Washington]] in 1963.<ref name="Gilbert1988">{{cite book|last=Gilbert|first=James|title=A Cycle of Outrage: America's Reaction to the Juvenile Delinquent in the 1950s|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PSbMWznYmFAC|year=1988|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0195363562|page=9|access-date=February 19, 2019|archive-date=January 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119173538/https://books.google.com/books?id=PSbMWznYmFAC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Sussman">{{cite book |last1=Sussman |first1=Warren |editor1-last=May |editor1-first=Lary |title=Recasting America |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0226511757 |chapter=Did Success Spoil the United States |year=1989 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/recastingamerica00gres }}</ref>