A Ku Klux Klan group and black activists are expected to hold duelling rallies at the South Carolina state capitol on Saturday.
The Loyal White Knights of the Klu Klux Klan said they plan to gather up to 200 demonstrators to protest against the removal of the Confederate flag.
A Florida-based group called Black Educators for Justice will rally to highlight racial inequality, according to the State newspaper.
It quoted organiser James Evans Muhammad as saying he plans to muster 300 demonstrators, including members of the New Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam.
The KKK group was expected to rally in Columbia from 3pm to 5pm, while the Black Educators was assembling at the other side of statehouse from midday to 4pm.
Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin has urged people to shun Saturday's rallies.
He tweeted: "Lets use the #IgnoreThem hashtag and share how you're going to ignore these groups gathering at the State House on Saturday."
The Confederate flag was removed from South Carolina's statehouse grounds a week ago after last month's massacre of nine black church-goers by an alleged white supremacist who had embraced the rebel banner .
One of the organisers of Saturday's KKK protest, Grand Dragon Will Quigg, was quoted by Georgia Public Broadcasting as saying they plan a peaceful demonstration.
He distanced himself from Dylann Roof, the alleged Charleston church shooter , and described the KKK as a "white civil rights group", rather than a white supremacist group.
A recorded voice message at the Loyal White Knights' office in North Carolina said the protesters will be "standing up for our Confederate history".
It continued: "Our government is trying to erase white culture and our heritage right out of the pages of the history books.
"If you're white and proud, join the crowd."
The Loyal White Knights calls itself the largest Klan faction in America and claims to have several thousand active members nationwide.
So who is going to this to tell white people "fukk you"