Abstract
Little Tree was number one on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list on October 4, 1991, when historian Dan T. Carter published an op-ed piece in the New York Times that demolished the image of the book’s author, explaining that Forrest Carter was in reality Asa Carter, and he was no Indian. Rather, Dan Carter (no relation) wrote, “Between 1946 and 1973, the Alabama native [Asa Carter] carved out a violent career in Southern politics as a Ku Klux Klan terrorist, right-wing radio announcer, home-grown American fascist and anti-Semite, rabble-rousing demagogue and secret author of the famous 1963 speech by Gov. George Wallace of Alabama: ‘Segregation now…segregation tomorrow…segregation forever.’” As Dan Carter concluded, “What does it tell us that we are so easily deceived?” To his question, pundits and readers quickly added others: Were the allegations true? And if they were true, could Asa Carter have had a change of heart and become a new person?
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2012
Publisher Statement
"The Curious Case of Asa Carter and The Education of Little Tree."In American Indians and American Popular Culture, ed. Elizabeth DeLaney Hoffman. Connecticut: Praeger Publishing, 2012.
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Recommended Citation
Browder, Laura. "The Curious Case of Asa Carter and The Education of Little Tree." In American Indians and Popular Culture, edited by Elizabeth DeLaney Hoffman, 63-79. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2012.