As racial and bipartisan tensions in America continue to rise, only one thing is for certain: this is just the beginning. The violent "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia was sparked by the city's plan to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The rally left one counter protestor dead and 19 others injured, showing that alt-right groups were not afraid to take violent measures towards the opposing side.

The alt-right is an umbrella term used to describe the far-right American community. Some groups that identify as alt-right include the Ku Klux Klan, Neo-Nazis, and other groups founded on white supremacy.

The alt-right movement has largely established itself through networking in online communities, but recent rallies aim to show that the movement is ready to make itself known in the physical space.

Protests this weekend

The "Unite the Right" rally had hundreds of white supremacists and anti-fascist protestors in attendance, establishing itself as the largest far-right rally in at least two decades. While it was a defining moment for the movement, these rallies are not going to slow down any time soon. In fact, the alt-right movement is only gaining momentum and are quickly organizing rallies to come across the nation.

Nine cities nationwide are preparing for more alt-right protests just this weekend alone.

The far right has announced plans for their largest scheduled march, the "March on Google." This march aims to protest the firing of James Damore, the Google employee that wrote the viral memo on Google's diversity policies. This march is set to take place on Saturday in cities across the nation --- including Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Los Angeles, Mountain View, California, New York, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Where do we go from here?

While last weekend's rally was supposedly organized on behalf of the removal of the confederate statue, this weekend's planned protests show that it's not just about preserving their history. It's about distancing themselves from the internet meme that their movement has become and making their voices heard in the foreseeable future.

It's not clear how many people will actually be in attendance at these upcoming rallies, considering that this past rally had about 500 people in attendance. While 500 people is not a lot in comparison to other major city protests, many internet memes point out that some alt-right rallies in the past year have had less than 10 people in attendance. By spreading their rallies nationwide, the alt-right movement hopes to establish themselves as a serious force to be reckoned with. Many people across the nation are left wondering just how many people will come out to march after the horrific events that unraveled in Charlottesville.

The movement seems to be feeling a newfound sense of pride after President Trump has continuously avoided condemning white supremacists, possibly sparking record high attendance for the alt-right rallies.

Saturday night will determine where the movement is heading from here. Depending on the attendance level of these protests, the nation will be able to see if these alt-right groups are all bark or all bite. Either way, the rise in hate speech and societal division proves that we as a nation still have a long way to go.