'Central Florida is Absolutely a Part of the Old South!'

KKK photo was taken in a town called Osteen, which is just over Lake Monroe from Sanford. Sanford, Osteen, and Deltona all blend together, expect that Sanford is over the county line into Seminole.(Click photo to enlarge)

Former Resident and Teacher Says Sanford and Other Areas Are KKK Strongholds

A FROM THE G-MAN EXCLUSIVE

On March 24, From The G-Man published an article entitled "The Trayvon Martin Killing: Has Sanford's KKK Past Come Back to Haunt It?" According to a former Central Florida resident and teacher who posted a comment on the site after reading the story, "the Ku Klux Klan and racial problems have never left."

  

In effort to gain more clarity and detail on the comment, From The G-Man contacted the former resident, Patty Cunningham-Woolf. Woolf now resides in North Carolina and runs a successful real estate office with her husband, Ben.

Woolf did not mince words when describing the racial atmosphere and the tension that permeated the Central Florida region -- an atmosphere that she undoubtedly believes is still present....and is responsible for the killing of Trayvon Martin.

Initially, this news and information site intended to do an in-depth news story based on Woolf's experiences. However, an editorial decision had been made that it would be best to forgo the standard news presentation format and simply allow Woolf an opportunity to address the Martin family, Sanford and Central Florida residents, the mainstream media, the Department of Justice, and those within and outside the borders of the United States that are deeply concerned about the killing.

From The G-Man feared for the couple's safety and offered to conceal their identity. However, it was at the insistence of her husband that their names be published.

"Absolutely use my name; Ben agreed that anonymously it (the commentary) means very little," said Woolf. 

And now, Patty Cunningham-Woolf…in her own words.

It is difficult to make sense of the senseless death of a promising young person. The wanton death of teens in car accidents and natural disasters are painful and yet on some level we understand them to be a hazard of living…that death is at every turn. But, what about the murder of unarmed 17 year old honor student Trayvon Martin? How do his parents, how do we, make some sense of this loss? Maybe through the knowledge that the deep roots of racial hatred that exist in central Florida will be, are being, exposed. Though we don’t know if Zimmerman had racial motives killing Trayvon, it is difficult for anyone to argue that the handling of the case has no racial overtones; it would underscore a communal ignorance about the area’s history, and unfortunately, present.

I grew up in DeLand, Florida. As a crow flies, Sanford is about 22 miles south of DeLand, not really even a detour off I-4 on your way to Orlando. This area is the home of a very active Klan. Some scenes from my childhood are vivid memories and the Christmas Parade in DeLand when I was around seven or eight is one of those. The local Klan marched in the parade bearing the emblem “Peace on Earth Good Will Toward Men”-- in their robes no less! Years later when I taught at Pine Ridge High School in Deltona, a student was disciplined for inciting racial tensions by waving a rebel flag in minorities faces and using racial slurs. His friends rallied round and upped the confrontation over the next couple of days creating a very dangerous situation with a student body made up almost equally of black, Puerto Rican, and white kids. The Klan saw it differently and protested at the school because they said the student’s right to have a rebel flag on campus was violated. What a bizarre arrival to school that morning: a supposed adult man in a shiny purple gown and hood with a few hangers on, including the student, proclaiming himself as a grand wizard. Surreal for sure. Rednecks (a term that’s no longer offensive, darn it) regularly drove pickup trucks with ridiculously oversized tires and rebel flags waving from the truck bed and would honk at random people on the sidewalks with their overly loud “Dixie” playing horns. They were just expressing their southern heritage; no reason to curb this no matter how threatening to kids walking down the street, teen girls riding bikes, African-Americans just being.

Living in North Carolina now, I am often frustrated by people’s reaction when I tell them where I grew up. “Ahh, Disney World, Miami…” an assumption that the whole state of Florida is one long Disney-South Beach-Tampa world of golf courses, beaches, and boutique hotels and a population that is made up of snowbirds, northerners, people of diverse cultures, and the occasional native. That is NOT where I grew up. Central Florida is absolutely a part of the old south and I take offense to the Disney characterization, not because I’m a chest-thumping proponent of southern heritage ala rebel flag, but because people are so incredibly uninformed about the active legacy of this heritage and are content to literally white-wash the area with the broad stroke of a happy tourism paint brush. Sweeping this history out of view scares me to the core because its tradition remains alive and generally goes without notice.

This brings me back to the Trayvon Martin case. The 911 recordings reveal Zimmerman saying he plans to follow Martin and the dispatcher saying that wasn’t necessary. It makes logical sense that by pursuing Martin, Zimmerman cannot claim self-defense. Because of the strong Klan presence and a good ‘ol boy ethos that I witnessed from childhood into adulthood until at least 1999 when I moved from the area, I can’t help but conclude that Zimmerman has not been arrested so far because the victim was Black. I have spoken with many of my friends and contacts who are familiar with the area and they and I agree that had this been a white teenager killed, Zimmerman would have been arrested, especially if Zimmerman had been Black. I am not making any claim that Zimmerman himself was racially motivated. I am making a claim that it is a racially prejudiced reaction to the murder. In Sanford, shooting a Black kid to death just simply doesn’t warrant an arrest if it’s in “self-defense”.

Google “Zimmerman” or “Trayvon” or “Sanford, FL” and you’ll get thousands of results. Look at the international reaction. Watch the Million Hoodie March on Wednesday. All of these and more bring focus onto an area with simmering racial tensions and a past and present informed very strongly by the longest lived terrorist group in the United States. This exposure, if we choose to act on it, can be the sense that is made from Trayvon’s senseless death. And, if we choose not to act, then we allow a young man to fade from existence without the respect his memory is owed. The Martins deserve the former.

Photos courtesy of Patty Cunningham-Woolf