Historical marker ceremony in Waldo to honor lynching victims
Press release from Alachua County
WALDO, Fla. – The Waldo-Hawthorne-Campville-Rochelle Subcommittee of the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project will hold a historical marker installation ceremony at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, at Veterans Memorial Park at the Caboose (14705 NE Waldo Road, Waldo).
The ceremony is open to the public and will commemorate victims of racial terror lynchings in the Waldo, Hawthorne, Campville, and Rochelle communities.
Held in partnership with Alachua County and the Equal Justice Initiative, the event is part of a broader effort to educate the community about racial terror lynchings throughout Alachua County during the Jim Crow era and advance truth and reconciliation.
“Alachua County is proud to have been a partner in the Truth and Reconciliation Project over the years,” said Carl Smart, Alachua County’s executive liaison for public safety and community relations. “Programs like this help educate our community, preserve our history, and foster healing.”
I do agree that it is important to hold Democrats accountable for their long and shameful history of supporting slavery and opposing civil rights, a history that included (and continues to include to this day) extreme acts of political violence, but events like this just seem like a desperate attempt to keep racial division alive for the financial benefit of a few race hustlers.
That’s the truth, now where is the reconciliation?
Why do you use Democrats exclusively? Right now as we speak, Donald trump & the Republicans are putting back up statues of slave owners! He’s had art work removed from the Smithsonian as it relates to slavery, calling it woke. So, if you want to call out anyone on this, let’s make it republicans & their dear leader. As for this ceremony, I say help yes, & I’ll be there to cheer it on.
Marshall Rawson Florida District 10 candidate from neighboring Hampton, Fl. Decent people must stand against those that glorify public lynchings.
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/florida-rawson-charlottesville
The profile photo for the “RockOfDixie” account on X features a bodybuilder flexing on stage. That exact image can be found in an online gallery of photos from the 2016 National Physique Committee’s Galaxy Championships. The bodybuilder in the image is identified as Marshall Rawson, who finished fourth out of six contestants in the competition.
“RockOfDixie” only has three followers on X, one of whom is Rawson’s wife, Megan Rawson. (Megan did not respond to a request for comment for this story.)
In one post on RockOfDixie, Rawson appeared to advocate for public lynchings.
“Multiculturalism kills and public lynchings worked,” he wrote in 2018.
Rawson did not reply to questions about whether he was behind the account.
Still trying to cash in on the reparations? Sorry, but as long as the black culture keeps expecting the working class taxpayers to subsidize what’s going on in their communities there isn’t any amount of $$$ that will allow them to assimilate into a productive culture. No….we’re really not trying to put blacks back in chains or lynch them…..were just tired of funding their crime ridden culture. Sorry if the truth hurts.