 During the 1960s violence related to civil rights movement was attributed to the Klan; in 1967 a white man shot and severely wounded a popular African-American high school football player who was integrating Lake Ariana Beach.A Klan group marched in Lakeland in full regalia in 1979, their last public march by the Confederate monument in Munn Park.Since the late 20th century, growth in Polk County has been driven by its proximity to both the Tampa and Orlando metropolitan areas along the Interstate 4 corridor.