Sentence:  If any other forties figure paralleled this humorous, graceful man in appeal it was the dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, who, like the Trotter, funneled his extraordinary physical gifts into mass entertainment for whites yet remarkably, considering the time, avoided <WSD>cooning</WSD>. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To play the dated stereotype of a black fool for an audience, particularly including Caucasians.