Map shows hate groups operating out of the Houston area

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - There has been plenty of local support for the victims in Charlottesville, VA, but it may come as a surprise to learn that several hate groups are operating out of the most diverse city in the nation.

This information comes from the Southern Poverty Law Center's website. There is a map that shows about 917 hate groups across the nation, 55 of them in Texas.

Luis Salinas a sociology professor for the University of Houston, agrees with the maps findings, which showed a gradual decline of hate groups in 2011 and then an uptick in 2014. Last year alone 110 hate groups were added to the list.

In the Houston area, the map tracks about 10 groups from the Neo-Confederate "League of the South" to black separatist groups like the "New Black Panther Party." Salinas says that compared to other cities, Houston only has a handful of these groups, and doesn't see them as an issue "because we are already so diverse."

"However having said that, if you get one group starting to to do a protest of a demonstration and people say no we're not gonna let them say that about us, you can easily have another Charlottesville occurring, we need to talk about tolerance," Salinas says.