Asa Earl Carter, a renowned author and infamous racist propagandist, was the pen-name of Forrest Carter, the author of the controversial memoir "The Education of Little Tree". Born on September 4, 1925, Carter was a leading figure in the White Citizens Council, a group dedicated to opposing desegregation, and was the head of a local klavern of the Ku Klux Klan.
As a segregationist, Carter was an unofficial speechwriter for Governor George Wallace, a prominent segregationist politician who ran for the presidency in 1968 and 1972. Carter also wrote white supremacist literature and edited and published a white-supremacist publication called "The Southerner" under the auspices of the White Citizens Council.
Despite his controversial views, Carter published several Western novels under the pseudonym Forrest Carter, including "The Rebel Outlaw: Josey Wales", which was adapted into the 1976 film "The Outlaw Josey Wales" starring Clint Eastwood. After the film's release, the New York Times published an article highlighting the similarities between Forrest and Asa Carter, but Forrest denied the connection and it was largely forgotten.
However, in 1991, a reprint edition of "The Education of Little Tree" reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and historian Dan Carter confirmed Forrest's true identity in a New York Times op-ed. Despite the controversy surrounding his views, the popularity of "Little Tree" led many readers to assume that Asa/Forrest Carter had abandoned his earlier racist beliefs. However, historian Dan Carter's biography "Unmasking the Klansman" (2023) reveals that Forrest Carter remained a bitter racist until his death in 1979.
