Ralph Perry Forbes

Ralph Perry Forbes (March 12, 1940 – June 10, 2018) was an American Christian Identity minister, neo-Nazi, and perennial candidate in Arkansas. A former US Marine, he was a member of the American Nazi Party throughout the 1960s. Starting in 1963, Forbes led the ANP's California branch, the Western Division, until his expulsion in 1967. In 1965, party leader George Lincoln Rockwell enlisted him to become the ANP's Christian Identity minister in an effort to appeal to a wider American audience; Forbes mixed neo-Nazism with Christian Identity ideology. His religious views created conflict between him and the otherwise largely secular organization.

As leader of the Western Division he was involved in a dispute with the city of Glendale, California, in 1964 and 1965. After Rockwell was murdered in 1967, Forbes, a Rockwell loyalist, left the ANP after a power struggle within the Western Division. He moved to London, Arkansas, where he continued his Christian Identity adherence and was active in local politics. In the 1970s, he founded the Sword of Christ Good News Ministries, a Christian Identity group. He was involved in an effort to mainstream the Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s. He ran for office several times, and was the campaign manager for David Duke's 1988 presidential campaign with the Populist Party.

Forbes was also known for filing several high-profile lawsuits. In 1986, he sued, among others, the Arkansas Department of Education and Satan in an effort to stop the Arkansas school system from celebrating Halloween. Federal judge George Howard Jr. agreed to hear the case, and eventually dismissed the suit. A 1992 lawsuit by Forbes after he was excluded from a television debate resulted in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals requiring public broadcasters to declare a "viewpoint-neutral" reason for excluding candidates; this was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, which decided against him in Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes.

Early life Ralph Perry Forbes was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on March 12, 1940. He moved to Flint, Michigan, with his family in his youth. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1957; Forbes did not graduate from high school, but received his GED after his enlistment.

Dispute with the city of Glendale alt=Black and white photo of Forbes holding a sheet of something and wearing a Nazi armband. Behind him there are American flags and a framed portrait of Adolf Hitler The Western Division relocated to Glendale, California in late 1964 and afterwards Forbes and other ANP members became involved in a dispute with the city. The Glendale authorities attempted to evict them and the city refused to turn on the electricity unless Forbes signed an affidavit promising to not use the house for Nazi activities, which Forbes refused. Forbes said that his lease allowed him to use the property for political purposes, which the homeowner had thought was the Republican or Democratic political parties, not the Nazi Party. The city then filed a complaint against Forbes for "operating a meeting hall in a single-family dwelling without a permit"; this dispute eventually escalated to also involve Los Angeles County.

In January of the next year, Forbes, his heavily pregnant wife, and their two children all protested the shut-off of electricity to their home solely due to their occupancy by sleeping in at the Glendale City Hall. His wife Karen protested carrying a sign labeled "I'll have my baby here—there is electricity". Karen was arrested for obstruction of city business but then released, and their third child was born three days later. Forbes eventually filed suit to force the city to turn the power on; they obliged in February. Also in January, he and two other ANP members were brought to trial for "converting a house into an assembly building without a permit". They defended themselves with help from the ACLU. Forbes was ultimately convicted of violating the city building code and ordered to pay $550 and spend five days in jail. He was booked, but released on bail pending an appeal. The conviction was overturned later that year. His eviction was stayed and he was allowed to live in his home until the expiration of the lease; his landlord was instead ordered to pay for his eviction proceedings.

Christian Identity and exit from the ANP

According to writer William H. Schmaltz, Forbes was known within the neo-Nazi movement for his "strident racial views, his flair for the dramatic and his loyalty to Rockwell". He was very close to Rockwell and was one of the few ANP leaders to consistently stay loyal throughout his time in the party. He was the member most often assigned to delicate or sensitive assignments by Rockwell. He also had what scholar Jeffrey Kaplan described as an "affinity for the mystical", an obsession with the idea that he was witnessing prophecies and signs around him. He also had an "unbridled hatred" for Black people and Jews.

At the same time, the ANP had problems attracting more of the general population. Rockwell came to believe that they needed a religious angle to truly gain mass appeal in America. After meeting with Christian Identity minister Wesley A. Swift, Rockwell and Swift decided to bring their movements closer together. Christian Identity is a White supremacist interpretation of Christianity. Seeing an opportunity with Forbes, in August 1965 Rockwell wrote to Forbes, asking him to take on this assignment, and secretly convinced Forbes to become the ANP's official Christian Identity minister. Forbes was at the time the youngest division leader in the party. California was also home to several other Christian Identity ministries, making Forbes an ideal candidate for Rockwell's purposes. Forbes agreed.

Forbes blended neo-Nazism with Christian Identity, the first to do so; Rockwell hoped that this would broaden the audiences for both the ANP and Christian Identity and synergize them, justifying their racism through religion. Despite it being done on Rockwell's order, Forbes's increasing focus on religion alienated some group members, as many of them were inherently opposed to Christianity and viewed it as opposed to neo-Nazism. Rockwell aimed to quiet their complaints while Forbes integrated the Western Division with Christian Identity. Rockwell advised Forbes on suggested theological ideas, such as paralleling the lives of Adolf Hitler and Jesus, and insinuating that Hitler had actually been the Second Coming. He also manipulated Forbes's interest in hidden signs to get him to draw parallels between Nazism and Christianity.

In 1966, the Western Division moved to El Monte, California after the rent on Forbes's house increased four times over. In July of that year, Forbes, dressed in religious garb, led the picketing of the NAACP national convention. He was arrested in religious apparel in September 1966 at a Nazi march for attempting to stop Rockwell's arrest; upon his arrest, he said he was a reverend who led "the Second Covenant Church of Jesus Christ". He was jailed. Federal judge George Howard Jr. heard the case. Local lawyer John Wesley Hall Jr. defended the devil "at no cost"; Hall argued that Forbes did not provide enough evidence that Satan "transacts business, owns property or committed any torts" in the state, and that the allegations against Satan could not be proven in court due to the First Amendment, so advocated for the suit's dismissal. The suit was ultimately dismissed by Judge Howard.

He became a prominent figure in Arkansas politics, running frequently, and unsuccessfully, for local office. In 1985, failing to meet residency requirements, Forbes was rejected as a candidate in a Little Rock school board election. Forbes ran under the New America First Party, which associated with some members of the original, 1940s America First Party. He was involved in an effort to mainstream the Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s. He entered the 1986 Republican primary for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas, where Forbes attempted to downplay his history as a neo-Nazi, and polled up to 47% of the vote. Nobles withdrew, but Forbes was not chosen as his replacement nominee. He also tried to enter the senate election as a candidate for the American First Party, but a court ruled he had missed the ballot access deadline. He received 52 write in votes.

The next year, he assisted David Duke in his campaign for president on the Populist Party ticket, becoming campaign manager of his ticket. In 1990, he ran for Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas again in the Republican primary. In a three-way election, Forbes won the first round with 46% of the primary vote, but in the next rounds struggled. During the campaign he praised the Ku Klux Klan as "a godly institution", accused his Black opponent of being a drug dealer, and declared the most fundamental tenet of his religious belief system to be the preservation of the White race. It was the first Republican Party runoff election in the state. During the campaign, Forbes was assaulted by Robert "Say" McIntosh, a Black politician and activist, which resulted in statewide notoriety. McIntosh later claimed to actually support Forbes. These various incidents seriously harmed his reputation, and Forbes ultimately lost the primary to Kenneth "Muskie" Harris, a conservative Black man, in the runoff, getting only 14% of the vote.

After losing the primary, Forbes filed more lawsuits and attempted to win congressional office two more times. In 1992, Forbes ran as an independent in Arkansas's 3rd congressional district. When he was excluded from a television debate as part of the campaign, Forbes sued. Initially lower courts refused to take action, but the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately agreed with Forbes, requiring public broadcasters to declare a "viewpoint-neutral" reason for excluding candidates. This was appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled against him in Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes. , he was still seeking public office and using it to advance White supremacist causes. He eventually left politics and went to live on his farm, though he maintained his Christian Identity practices.

Later life and death Karen Forbes died in 2004. Afterwards Ralph Forbes's health declined and he moved into a nursing home in Russellville, Arkansas. Forbes died June 10, 2018, and was buried in the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery. Jeffrey Kaplan wrote of him in 2000 that he would not be remembered for his writings or Christian Identity thought, but rather his constant attempts to run for office.