Nat King Cole comments on being assaulted by white supremacists (Arlington, VA, 4/13/1956)

Description:

Produced by Telenews. Date: April 13, 1956.

Summary: In this Telenews footage from April 13, 1956, singer, jazz pianist and entertainer Nat King Cole is interviewed alongside his wife, Maria Cole, at an airport in Arlington, Virginia, before departing for Raleigh, North Carolina, during a tour of the southern United States.

With over 150 Billboard-charting hits, Nat King Cole (1919-1965) was one of the most popular vocalists of his era, as well as an accomplished jazz instrumentalist who set the standard for future small jazz ensembles with his Nat King Cole Trio in the 1940s. Cole also made history as one of the first African Americans to host a nationally broadcast series on American network television, The Nat King Cole Show, which premiered on NBC in November 1956.

Throughout his life, Cole challenged racial discrimination, standing empowered in the face of intimidation and attacks from hate groups. One of the more highly publicized incidents took place shortly before this interview, referred to by the reporter in the clip as the “incident in Birmingham.” Three days prior, while Cole was performing for a whites-only audience in Birmingham, Alabama, a group of white supremacists with plans to kidnap or murder Cole assaulted him on stage. The attackers were members of the White Citizens Council (WCC), a network of local white supremacist groups that had formed to resist the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954.

Members of the African American press were critical of his performances for segregated audiences, to which Cole responded: “My being there [in the South] helps spread goodwill, too. The 4,000 people in the audience [...] are going away with a new attitude. We have got to show the pro-segregationists that we are bigger than they are […] I’ll continue to go South and fight in my own way” (Daily Defender, Apr. 12, 1956). Cole ultimately reasserted his commitment to civil rights by boycotting segregated venues and joining the NAACP, and continued to be a visible figure for the movement for the rest of his life. —Russell Zych, Digital Communications Assistant

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Footage from the Hearst Metrotone News Collection at UCLA Film & Television Archive. Telenews, a syndicated newsfilm service for television, was a part of the Hearst newsreel enterprise from roughly 1954 through 1962. Hearst footage may be licensed for film, television and other productions. Learn more: ucla.in/2g6VNJx

Complete Record: Produced by Telenews. Date: April 13, 1956. Summary: In this Telenews footage from April 13, 1956, singer, jazz pianist and entertainer Nat King Cole is interviewed alongside his wife, Maria Cole, at an airport in Arlington, Virginia, before departing for Raleigh, North Carolina, during a tour of the southern United States. With over 150 Billboard-charting hits, Nat King Cole (1919-1965) was one of the most popular vocalists of his era, as well as an accomplished jazz instrumentalist who set the standard for future small jazz ensembles with his Nat King Cole Trio in the 1940s. Cole also made history as one of the first African Americans to host a nationally broadcast series on American network television, The Nat King Cole Show, which premiered on NBC in November 1956. Throughout his life, Cole challenged racial discrimination, standing empowered in the face of intimidation and attacks from hate groups. One of the more highly publicized incidents took place shortly before this interview, referred to by the reporter in the clip as the “incident in Birmingham.” Three days prior, while Cole was performing for a whites-only audience in Birmingham, Alabama, a group of white supremacists with plans to kidnap or murder Cole assaulted him on stage. The attackers were members of the White Citizens Council (WCC), a network of local white supremacist groups that had formed to resist the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954. Members of the African American press were critical of his performances for segregated audiences, to which Cole responded: “My being there [in the South] helps spread goodwill, too. The 4,000 people in the audience [...] are going away with a new attitude. We have got to show the pro-segregationists that we are bigger than they are […] I’ll continue to go South and fight in my own way” (Daily Defender, Apr. 12, 1956). Cole ultimately reasserted his commitment to civil rights by boycotting segregated venues and joining the NAACP, and continued to be a visible figure for the movement for the rest of his life. —Russell Zych, Digital Communications Assistant --------- Footage from the Hearst Metrotone News Collection at UCLA Film & Television Archive. Telenews, a syndicated newsfilm service for television, was a part of the Hearst newsreel enterprise from roughly 1954 through 1962. Hearst footage may be licensed for film, television and other productions. Learn more: ucla.in/2g6VNJx © The Regents of the University of California

Transcription

Man, where are you going today? I'm going to Raleigh. Raleigh. You're continuing your southern tour? Yes. Well, it's not a complete southern do anyway. We only have about four more days to go in it anyway. So, what kind of reception do you expect in the in the southern cities that you'll sing in? Well, we I can only go about what we've already experienced, which has been wonderful so far. So, you know, this is our 12th day on this tour. uh never have to go through this on stage. Uh we actually been wonderful. You know, we started this tour last Easter Sunday in Texas and we swung through the mid mid southern states and it's been all right so far. You don't expect a repetition of what happened in Birmingham then. Well, no. I mean, you don't expect it. Of course, we didn't expect that. Well, uh, they say that, uh, the reason those men attacked you was because of a of a feeling against rock and roll music and negro music, so-called. Now, what do you feel about that? Well, I mean, if that was the case, then I'm the wrong guy. You're you're not rock and roll. I don't think so. I think if you heard me before, I'm sure you would ask me that if you heard me before. What do you know what rock and roll is? What were you singing when those men attacked you? Oh, I don't I've forgotten now. I was one of the old standard songs of some sort. It wasn't a particular song I was singing. I could have been coming I could have been singing Near My God today as far as they were concerned at that time. You know, I don't think the song had anything to do with it. Well, Mrs. Ky going on the tour with you. Yes. She just came in from Los Angeles to join me for a couple of days and actually she was at home at the time all this happened and uh with the kids and she actually became a little excited, wanted to come back and join me for a couple of days. You think by your tour uh that you're helping the cause of integration in the south? Well, yes. I have been u asked by a lot of people why do I play audiences? But uh you see in my profession I'm an entertainer and uh I think in playing to all types of audiences and uh particularly being a negro performer and you have white as well as colorful audiences you're helping a lot to bring people together and uh you just can't save you just turn your back on it completely because I have no jurisdiction over the law. Of course I don't condone segregated audiences. I never have. But I can't in my own voice just walk out on the stage in any state and just say I demand integration because uh we have a Supreme Court and everything else trying to settle this issue. So I don't see why people expect for me to be that more powerful than any law that we have in the land because naturally I'm forward uh integrated audiences and I hope that in the near future with the public relation work that we are trying to do as entertainers will help that. Well, Mrs. Cole, do you have any fears about your husband going south again? Yes, I have a little. I I don't think that we can be assured that it won't happen again, but I'm hoping that it won't. I'd rather be with it though at now at the present. You're hoping that it's just an unfortunate incident that won't be repeated. Well, I think it was just one of those emotional outbursts that happened and uh from the indication from the cities that we've are going to travel, we've gotten some wonderful words of encouragement from very outstanding citizens who deplored such actions and particularly from the high officials of each one of these sounds we're going to and they have said that they were positive not anything of that sort and we expect to keep complete decorum at all times. So, here we go. Thanks very much and lots of luck on your tour. Thank you. Now, back to John Dailyaly in New York.

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