November 10th 2024.
Last week, people across the country were shocked and disturbed by a series of racist text messages that were sent to Black individuals, including students as young as middle schoolers. The messages, which were anonymous, were reported in multiple states, such as New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. While they all had a similar tone, the wording varied.
Some of the messages instructed the recipients to show up at a specific location at a certain time with their belongings, while others did not mention a location at all. Many of the messages also made references to the incoming presidential administration. It was not immediately clear who was behind these messages, and there was no comprehensive list of where they were sent, but reports indicated that high school and college students were among the recipients.
The FBI, along with other law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission and the Ohio Attorney General's office, launched investigations into the matter. Tasha Dunham from Lodi, California, shared her experience with the messages, saying that her 16-year-old daughter received one before her basketball practice. Not only did the message use her daughter's name, but it also directed her to report to a "plantation" in North Carolina, a place where they have never lived. After looking up the address, they discovered it was a museum.
Dunham expressed her fear and concern, saying that everyone is trying to understand the meaning behind these messages and how they may affect them. She also shared that her daughter initially thought it was a prank, but given the heightened emotions following the recent presidential election, they decided to report it to local law enforcement.
The messages also targeted middle school students in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, which deeply disturbed Megan Shafer, the acting superintendent of the Lower Merion School District. In a letter to parents, she condemned the racist nature of the messages and expressed her concern that children were being targeted.
The messages were not limited to students, as students at major universities, such as Clemson in South Carolina and the University of Alabama, also reported receiving them. The Clemson Police Department released a statement, condemning the "deplorable racially motivated text and email messages" and encouraging anyone who received one to report it.
Historically Black university Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, also addressed the messages, calling them deeply unsettling and urging students to remain calm. They reassured students that the messages likely came from bots or malicious actors with no real intentions or credibility.
Nimrod Chapel, the Missouri NAACP President, reported that Black students at Missouri State University received messages referencing President Trump's win and calling them out by name, stating that they would be "selected to pick cotton" the following Tuesday. The police have been notified, and Chapel described the situation as a well-organized and resourced group targeting Americans based on the color of their skin.
The wireless industry trade group CTIA acknowledged the threatening spam messages and stated that they were aggressively working to block them and the numbers they were coming from. David Brody from The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law stated that they were unsure who was behind the messages but estimated that they were sent to over 10 states, including most Southern states, Maryland, Oklahoma, and the District of Columbia. The District's Metropolitan Police force also released a statement, saying that their intelligence unit was investigating the origins of the message.
Brody explained that several civil rights laws could be applied to hate-related incidents like these. Leaders from various civil rights organizations, such as Margaret Huang from the Southern Poverty Law Center and NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson, condemned the messages, stating that hate speech has no place in our nation and that these actions are not normal. They refuse to let them be normalized.
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