Black Codes

Following the defeat of the Confederacy, Florida was left with no viable legal or political system in place. Appointed to create a new state Constitution and government, the Florida General Assembly was deeply concerned with the regulation of former slaves. Newly freed blacks could no longer be controlled or punished by an owner, so new laws and regulations were put into effect.

The new laws made loitering, vagrancy and other trivial transgressions an offense punishable by up to one year at hard labor. They provided no means of funding either for the creation of, or support for, schools for black children. The laws disenfranchised black men from voting. Lastly, other laws made it illegal for blacks to serve on juries or to sue whites. In all, they managed to subjugate the black population and effectively return Florida to its pre-war roles of servant and master

Poll Taxes
By 1884, the Bourbon Democrats had begun to seize control of the political reins in Florida. The Constitution of 1885 would make it possible to begin the legal disenfranchisement of blacks. In 1889, the Florida legislature complied, and passed the poll tax laws.

This law put in place a tax on any black man voting, a tax to "pay for education." They also allowed for multiple ballots in multiple locations, making the voting for all or any of the Republican candidates next to impossible. While the multiple ballots would be replaced in 1893, the poll tax would remain in effect until 1937.

Militia / Patriot Groups
The Southern Poverty Law Center identified 217 "Patriot" groups that were active in 1999. Of these groups, 68 were militias, four were "common-law courts" and the remainder fit into a variety of categories such as publishers, ministries, citizens’ groups and others. Generally, Patriot groups define themselves as opposed to the "New World Order" or advocate or adhere to extreme antigovernment doctrines. Listing here does not imply that the groups themselves advocate or engage in violence or other criminal activities, or are racist. The list was compiled from field reports, Patriot publications, the Internet, law enforcement sources and news reports.

Ku Klux Klan: 1870 - 1950
During Reconstruction, many white Floridians resented the military presence in Florida. They blamed the blacks and deeply resented their newly protected privileges. Unable to find legal recourse, some whites banded together in vigilante groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Often overlooked in Florida, the Klan harassed and intimidated black men and women throughout the state, particularly in the northern regions. Lynching, cross burnings, raids and armed assaults during election days served to effectively deter many blacks from voting. Following the passage of the new State Constitution and poll tax laws in the 1880s and ‘90s, the activities of the Klan subsided. With Jim Crow laws in effect, Klan activities subsided.

However, World War I would bring to the forefront civil rights and voting issues. When women won the right to vote in 1920, many black women and men would once again attempt to exercise their rights. By the early 1920s, the Klan was once more a serious threat to blacks. By the early 1950s, lynching, murders, assaults and vandalism against innocent blacks were again marring race relations in Florida.

Today, racist beliefs are channeled through groups who may participate in the advancement of hate crimes. Link to incidents in Florida in 1999 of racial hate crimes.

Rosewood
Until January of 1923, Rosewood, a small town near Cedar Key in western Levy County, was home to about 350 African-American Floridians. That month, this small town became what the late Governor Chiles described as "a shadow of shame which fell across the state of Florida." [Source]

1960s
Civil Rights activity in Florida rose in the 1960s, as did the black voting percentage, thanks in part to civil rights activists such as Harry T. Moore and C.K. Steele.