James Lee Hart (also known as John Hart, born February 23, 1944) is a

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

segregationist Racial segregation is the separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Segregation can involve the spatial separation of the races, and mandatory use of different institutions, such as schools and hospitals by peopl ...

activist and political candidate in

Buchanan, Tennessee Buchanan is an unincorporated community in Henry County, Tennessee. It is located about six miles west of Paris Landing State Park, which is located on the Tennessee River on the west bank of Kentucky Lake. Buchanan was founded in the 1840s. As ...

Beliefs

Hart describes himself as an advocate of

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

, saying that the United States should be repopulated with members of the "favored races" of Europe and Asia and not the "less-favored races" of Africa. Without such an

ethnic cleansing Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal such as deportation or population transfer, it ...

, he argues, "we are now in danger of degenerating back to the level of the subhuman primate once again." In a campaign brochure, he wrote: "We whites don’t hold minorities back. The minorities hold us back and destroy the civilizations that we create whether in Zimbabwe or Detroit." Hart has cited the

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

of his 29-year-old son in 2001 as motivation for his political efforts.

Political campaigns

Hart ran for Congress in 2002 as an independent, winning 2.55% of the vote. But he first gained notice in 2004 when he ran as a Republican for the House of Representatives for

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

's Eighth District. As the only candidate on the primary ballot (facing only a write-in campaign), he won the Republican nomination, despite listing an out-of-state address in candidate filings. The state Republican Party disavowed his candidacy, describing his views on race as "abhorrent and outrageous" and urging "all Republicans and Tennesseans to reject the candidacy of James Hart wholly and unequivocally." Hart lost to incumbent

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

John Tanner (U.S. Representative), John Tanner, receiving 2004 United States House of Representatives elections#Tennessee, 25.6% of the vote. He attempted to run again in 2006, but Republican state leadership successfully petitioned to have him removed from the ballot on the grounds that he was not a ''bona fide'' member of the party. Hart's attorney in the matter was Richard Barrett (lawyer), Richard Barrett, the Mississippi white nationalist leader. He made further attempts in 2008 and 2010, but Republican state leaders were again successful in keeping him off the G.O.P. ballot, pushing him to run as an independent. He has continued to seek the 8th District seat; in 2022, running as an independent on behalf of "the blue-collar white working man," he received 2,541 votes, 1.2% of all votes cast. He has also been an independent candidate in elections for the Tennessee House of Representatives at least six times.

References

External links

Hart for CongressPrevious campaign site from 2010
1944 births Living people Tennessee Republicans American eugenicists American segregationists Year of birth missing (living people) {{Tennessee-politician-stub