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John Kasper

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For the American Olympic bobsledder, see John Kasper (bobsleigh). For the New Zealand cricketer, see John Kasper (cricketer).
John Kasper
Kasper being taken into custody (1956)
Born(1929-10-21)October 21, 1929
Merchantville, New Jersey, U.S.
DiedApril 7, 1998(1998-04-07) (aged 68)
Osteen, Florida, U.S.
Alma materColumbia University
Political partyNational States' Rights Party

John Kasper (born Frederick John Kasper, Jr.; October 21, 1929 – April 7, 1998) was an American politician, Ku Klux Klan member, and a segregationist who took a militant stand against racial integration during the civil rights movement.[1]

Life

FBI teletype sent immediately after the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation Temple bombing, instructing agents to "thoroughly account for the whereabouts of Frederick John Kasper" before and after the time of the explosion

Raised in Merchantville, New Jersey,[2] and educated at Columbia University, Kasper became a devotee of Ezra Pound[3] and corresponded with the poet as a student.[4] Between 1950 and 1963, Kasper sent 400 letters to Pound and received an unknown number of replies (Pound's letters to Kasper are lost). In the letters Kasper identifies with Pound and, within a short time of beginning the correspondence, he considered himself Pound's main disciple.[5]

Directed by Pound, Kasper began a small press (Square Dollar Press) in 1951, to publish works Pound favored. In 1953, Kasper opened the Make It New bookshop in Greenwich Village, displaying Pound's letters in the shop window. Kasper campaigned against racial integration in the Southern United States, calling it a Jewish plot. In those activities and others, Kasper believed he was disseminating the poet's ideas. Pound's association with Kasper caused chagrin among those who were attempting to have Pound released from St. Elizabeths Hospital, where he was incarcerated on charges of treason.[6]

After running the bookshop in Greenwich Village, Kasper moved to Washington, D.C., where he befriended Pound and set up a company to publish the poet's works, as well as those of others such as Charles Olson.[4] Imbibing Pound's right-wing ideas[which?], Kasper formed the Seaboard Citizens Council immediately after the ruling of the Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education case, with the aim of preventing desegregation in Washington.[7]

During the 1970s, Kasper returned to Merchantville, New Jersey, where he had grown up. In this time, he worked as an accountant for a train company. Also at this time, he fathered a child[how?]. His daughter, named Ruthanne Rose, was born in December 1978. After she was born, Kasper left the area.

Kasper was known to be in Florida and North Carolina for a time. He married a woman[who?] in 1992 and had another child in 1995 before his death in 1998.

Defense of segregation

Kasper came to public attention during the integration of Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee. He sought to mobilize opponents of the desegregation order, and was arrested[why?] during the resulting unrest.[3] Kasper was acquitted of inciting a riot and sedition.[8] The jury included members who served on the arresting auxiliary police force. The courtroom broke out in cheers when the verdict was read.[9]

As a result of this incident, Kasper became a focal point at similar protests across the Southern United States, often an unwelcome one.[10] While he was campaigning, Kasper was jailed for crimes ranging from inciting a riot to loitering.[4] He was a suspect in a school bombing in Nashville as well as multiple synagogue bombings—he was a virulent antisemite—although no evidence was provided to link him directly to any of the cases.[4]

In 1956, Kasper was under a court order to desist from obstructing desegregation, which he ignored, prompting his arrest and those of 15 other segregationists. In 1957, Kasper was found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to one year in jail.[11] At Kasper's trial, an enthusiastic supporter of his, Joe Diehl, a Knoxville farmer and a leader of the Knoxville Citizens Council, distributed The Coming Red Dictatorship, which claimed that "Asiatic Marxist Jews" were taking over the world, to several people, including the prosecutor. Diehl himself compared the round-up of segregationists to the government enforcing a communist dictatorship. As he was leaving the courtroom, the prosecutor had a federal marshal arrest him. After being told about the incident, the judge sentenced Diehl to 30 days in jail for contempt of court.[12]

Of the 16 segregationists arrested, one died in a mental hospital, while four others had the charges against them dropped. In 1957, Kasper and the six remaining segregationists were found guilty of contempt in a mass trial, with the last four being acquitted.[13] Several of the defendants were visibly shocked after being found guilty, while Kasper was angry, muttering "It's difficult to understand." Kasper had six months added to his sentence, while his codefendants all received probationary terms ranging from one to two years. The maximum sentence had been six months and a $1,000 fine. The judge believed that Kasper, whom he viewed as an agitator, was the most culpable defendant, telling him that "I am confident that these east Tennesseans would not be before me now if it had not been for you."[14]

After losing his appeals, Kasper was sent to prison in November 1957, serving eight months of his sentence for his first conviction.[15] Following his release, he said he had been "treated fine" and that "the only trouble was it was completely integrated." He was originally scheduled to be released from a prison in Tallahassee, Florida, but was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta after officials learned that supporters in the Ku Klux Klan were planning a celebration party outside. Those left waiting in vain included Klan leader James W. "Catfish" Cole, who'd received national attention for his role in the Battle of Hayes Pond, in which hundreds of Lumbee Indians had violently broken up a Klan rally in North Carolina, shooting and wounding four Klansmen.[16]

In November 1958, a state court in Nashville found Kasper guilty of inciting a riot. He was sentenced to six months in a workhouse and fined $500.[17] In July 1959, he reported back to prison to serve his sentence for his second conviction.[18] While in prison, he was punched in the face by a black prisoner.[19] In January 1960, Kasper reported to the Davidson County Jail to serve his sentence on his state conviction.[20] His request to not serve his sentence at a workhouse was granted, after he complained that "racial conflict" could occur among inmates of the "integrated" workhouse if he was forced to serve his sentence there. The jail and workhouse technically had whites and blacks living in separate quarters, albeit it was harder to maintain complete segregation in the workhouse.[21] Kasper was released from jail on July 15, 1960.[22]

Upon his release, Kasper called for a return to Constitutionalism, and the creation of a third party to oppose the integration which he said was now supported by both the Democrats and Republicans.[4] He became associated with the National States' Rights Party and ran in the 1964 Presidential election with J.B. Stoner as his running mate. Kasper attracted negligible support: just 6,434 votes in just two states, Kentucky and Arkansas.[23]

Later life and death

Kasper returned to his northern roots in 1967 and effectively left politics, settling down to family life and a series of clerical jobs, the last being as an auditor for TTX.[4] He died on April 7, 1998 at the age of 68 when his boat capsized. He was survived by his wife Tram Houng and three children.[24][25]

References

  1. ^ J SAC, Memphis V (3 Jun 1960). United States Government Memorandum: Frederick John Kasper Racial Matters (Report). FBI. Retrieved 3 Feb 2022.
  2. ^ Pearson, Drew. "Breeders Of Hate Meet To Form Third Party", The Press of Atlantic City, December 3, 1958. Accessed February 22, 2024, via Newspapers.com. "Though John Kasper holds no official position in the new party he is looked upon as its fuehrer and deserves further study. Surprisingly he comes from a moderate family background in Merchantville, N. J., and received a BS degree at Columbia University."
  3. ^ a b "JAIL TERM UPHELD FOR BIAS LEADER: Kasper, Foe of Integration, Loses Appeal in Tennessee School Disorders Case Details of the Ruling Faces Another Trial". The New York Times. 2 June 1957. p. 57. ProQuest 114221213.
  4. ^ a b c d e f 'The Tale of John Kasper'
  5. ^ Alec Marsh, John Kasper and Ezra Pound: Saving the Republic (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015).
  6. ^ Houen, Alex. (2010). Anti-Semitism. Ira B. Nadel (editor), in Ezra Pound in Context. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-51507-8. pp. 397-398
  7. ^ Demetres P. Tryphonopoulos; Stephen Adams (2005). The Ezra Pound Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-313-30448-4. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
  8. ^ "Education: The Racists' Day". Time. 1956-12-10. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  9. ^ 'Mr. John G. Moore on the Desegregation of Clinton High School' Archived 2008-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ 'Kasper Not Wanted In Arkansas' from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Archived May 18, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ [1] | June 1, 1957 | John Kasper, Appellant, v. D. J. Brittain, Jr., et al., Appellees, 245 F.2d 92 (6th Cir. 1957) | Annotate this Case | US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit - 245 F.2d 92 (6th Cir. 1957) | [2]
  12. ^ "Joe Diehl". The Knoxville Journal. 1956-12-07. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  13. ^ "Criminal contempt of court John Kasper". The Knoxville Journal. 1957-07-24. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  14. ^ "VINCENT J SQUILLANTE PLEADS THE FIFTH 11-15-57". The Des Moines Register. 1957-11-16. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  15. ^ "U.S. JAILS KASPER; MUST SERVE YEAR". The New York Times. 1957-10-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  16. ^ "Kasper prison". Bristol Herald Courier. 1958-08-02. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  17. ^ Times, Special to The New York (1958-11-09). "Kasper Is Convicted In Nashville Rioting; KASPER IS GUILTY IN NASHVILLE RIOT". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  18. ^ "Kasper return to federal jail". Daily Independent Journal. 1959-07-24. p. 20. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  19. ^ "KASPER STRUCK IN FACE; Punched by Negro Prisoner in Federal Institution". The New York Times. 1959-07-31. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  20. ^ "Kasper reports to state jail". Chattanooga Daily Times. 1960-01-17. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  21. ^ "Kasper workhouse". Nashville Banner. 1960-01-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2024-02-24.
  22. ^ Dawidowicz, Lucy S. (1961). "Religion in the 1960 Presidential Campaign". The American Jewish Year Book. 62: 111–128. ISSN 0065-8987. JSTOR 23603233.
  23. ^ "'Popular Votes for John Kasper (most recent) by state'". Archived from the original on 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2008-02-05.
  24. ^ Our Campaigns: John Kasper
  25. ^ https://publiclibrary.cc/digitalcollections/files/original/4/243/burger0239-Kasper-John-Death.pdf [bare URL PDF]

John Kasper's FBI files obtained through the FOIA and hosted at the Internet Archive

Preceded by National States' Rights Party Presidential candidate
1964 (lost) 		Succeeded by
none
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