Following the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the removal of a Confederate statute, some ask if that sort of rally can happen there, why not here?

  • UCF history professor: Orlando laid groundwork for diversity
  • Florida has 63 hate groups, 2nd in the country
  • Hate-fueled acts in Florida this past weekend 

Unlikely, according to Robert Cassanello, a history professor at the University of Central Florida.

“What happened in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, is city leaders, like the mayor, decide to go in their economic 'new South' route," he explained. “So Orlando, and places like Orlando, would not turn out to be like Little Rock, Arkansas or other places engaging in interracial violence.”

Groundwork, he said, led to interracial committees and diversity. And hate groups never established a strong foothold like they did in other Southern cities.

That’s not to say hate groups don’t exist in the Sunshine State.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are hundreds in the U.S. With 63 groups, Florida has the second most hate groups of any state in the country behind California, including more than a dozen dotting Central Florida.

Orlando removed a Confederate statue from Lake Eola Park in June, bound for a new resting place in the city's Greenwood Cemetery.

That decision did not lead to widespread or violent protest. But what the nation witnessed in Charlottesville, may have spurred hate-fueled acts over the weekend: from racist graffiti and phrases, like “stay white,” on four homes in Flagler County, to vandalism of a Confederate memorial in Hillsborough County.

Work began Sunday to remove a Confederate statue in Gainesville known as “Old Joe.” The city is returning the statue to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, but it’s unclear where the statue will go. 

Gainesville is dealing with its own White Nationalist event. Prominent Nationalist Richard Spencer has applied to speak at University of Florida on Sept. 12. UF President W. Kent Fuchs called the events in Virginia "deplorable," and condemned Spencer's message, but says school officials may not be able to block his appearance.

Per university regulations, while Spencer is not being sponsored by the university or any groups affiliated wth UF, people can rent space on campus as long as they handle expenses and security costs.

The City of Gainesville law enforcement officials have already begun talking about how they will handle any protests or counterprotests.