Racist texts referring to ‘picking cotton’ sent to several people across US following election

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By Ashley R. Williams, Jack Forrest and Jillian Sykes, CNN
(CNN) — Authorities across the United States are investigating after several people, including children and college students, reported receiving racist text messages from unrecognized phone numbers in recent days.
The texts have been reported in states including Maryland, New Jersey, Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, New York and South Carolina. CNN has reached out to state officials for additional information on the text messages.
“The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter,” the FBI said in a statement Thursday.
It was unclear who sent the messages, and there was no complete list of where they were delivered, but high school and college students were among the recipients.
Talaya Jones, a Black woman who lives in Piscataway, New Jersey, said she was “shocked” to receive a racist text on Wednesday informing her that she had been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,” she told CNN Thursday.
The text also refers to “executive slave catchers,” according to a screen shot Jones shared with CNN.
“My initial reaction was probably like disbelief, like I thought it was like a joke,” said Jones, who forwarded the text message to her loved ones. “It really just shows that we didn’t come as far as everybody thought we did as a nation, from back in the day when slavery was still a thing,” Jones said.
Alabama mother Arleta McCall told CNN a racist text message was also sent to her daughter Wednesday morning that left her feeling unsafe.
Her daughter, Alysa, an honors freshman at the University of Alabama, was in tears and wanted to go home after receiving a message that said she had been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation” and to “be prepared to be searched down,” McCall said.
“It’s eerie that it’s the day after the election. It’s eerie that it came to my daughter’s personal phone. It’s eerie that it’s only going to Black students,” McCall said. “Her group of friends have mapped out their paths to class so they can walk together and keep each other safe.”
Laura Bass-Brown, a Houston-area mother, reported that her 15-year-old daughter received a racist text message. Bass-Brown told CNN affiliate KHOU 11 News that the message came from an unfamiliar number and addressed her daughter by name, initially appearing automated. However, after reviewing screenshots from her daughter’s friends, she discovered that the sender often replied when students responded.
The University of Alabama acknowledged in a statement to CNN that “individuals across the country have received these disgusting messages,” and urged anyone with information to report it to authorities.
“This has been reported to authorities, and we’re asking anyone who may have information regarding these messages to report it to the appropriate authorities,” they added.
School board officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, say local law enforcement and the FBI are aware of people including their students receiving the texts, and that “law enforcement in some areas have announced they consider the messages low-level threats,” according to a statement from Montgomery County Public Schools.
“We recognize that the emotional and psychological impact on our students, staff, and particularly our communities of color is profound. We stand in solidarity with those who feel targeted and hurt by these actions,” the school board’s statement read.
Virginia news station WVEC-TV said one of its photographers, Sam Burwell, also received a text message from an unfamiliar phone number, addressing him by name, and like the text Jones and McCall’s daughter received, the text told him he had been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.”
Burwell said in an article posted by WVEC-TV that he is concerned about receiving a text message a day after the election.
“I feel like it’s a spam message (and) I do feel disappointed about the message they’re sending a day after the election,” Burwell said.
State officials condemn ‘vile’ texts
As the investigation unfolds, NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson issued a statement Thursday on the broader implications of the hate-filled rhetoric.
“The unfortunate reality of electing a president who, historically, has embraced and at times encouraged hate, is unfolding before our eyes,” Johnson said. “These messages represent an alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and stoke the flames of fear that many of us are feeling after Tuesday’s election results.”
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said Thursday that the “racist and vile spam text messages” have also spread to her state, she wrote in a statement via X.
“I have directed the Louisiana Bureau of Investigation to fully investigate the origins of these disgusting texts that only intend to divide us,” Murrill said, urging anyone impacted to report the messages to her office.
Officials in Virginia and Washington, DC told CNN Thursday they are also looking into the racist text messages.
The attorney general’s office in Washington, DC, is “aware of racist text messages being sent to District residents and condemns them unequivocally,” communications director Gabriel Shoglow-Rubenstein said.
“Anyone receiving these messages should contact our civil rights section by calling 202-727-3400 or emailing OAGCivilRights@dc.gov. If you believe your safety is at risk, please contact local law enforcement,” he said in a statement to CNN.
The Virginia attorney general’s office is also “aware of these text messages and unequivocally condemns them,” press secretary Chloe Smith said, noting that “anyone who believes themselves to be under threat should not hesitate to contact local law enforcement as well as their local FBI field office.”
New York Attorney General Letitia James condemned the text messages as “disgusting and unacceptable” in a statement on X Thursday.
“These texts appear to be targeting Black and Brown individuals, including students, and may include personal information about the recipient such as their name or location,” James said. “ I unequivocally condemn any attempt to intimidate or threaten New Yorkers and their families.”
Nevada’s Attorney General’s Office’s investigators are working with law enforcement to investigate “the source of what appear to be robotext messages,” the office said in a statement on X.
CNN has reached out to the Federal Communications Commission for comment.
CNN’s Hanna Park contributed to this report.
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