November 8th 2024.
In the past week, a series of racist text messages have caused widespread concern and alarm across the country. These messages, which referenced slavery and targeted Black men, women, and even students, have prompted investigations by the FBI and other agencies. They were reported in multiple states, including New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, and while they shared a similar tone, the wording varied.
The messages, sent anonymously, instructed recipients to show up at a specific location with their belongings, while others did not include a location. Some also mentioned the incoming presidential administration. It is not yet known who is behind these messages, and there is no comprehensive list of where they were sent. However, it has been reported that high school and college students were among the recipients.
The FBI has been working closely with the Justice Department on this matter, and the Federal Communications Commission has also launched an investigation, alongside federal and state law enforcement. The Ohio Attorney General's office is also looking into the situation.
Tasha Dunham, a mother from Lodi, California, shared her experience with one of these messages. Her 16-year-old daughter received a text that not only used her name but also directed her to report to a "plantation" in North Carolina, a place where they have never lived. When they looked up the address, they found it to be a museum. Dunham described the experience as "very disturbing" and expressed her fear and concern. Her daughter initially thought it was a prank, but the emotions surrounding the recent presidential election have made people more wary. Dunham and her family reported the message to local law enforcement.
Dunham also shared her thoughts on the historical context of these messages, saying, "I wasn't in slavery. My mother wasn't in slavery. But we're a couple of generations away. So, when you think about how brutal and awful slavery was for our people, it's awful and concerning." The disturbing nature of these messages was also felt by six middle school students in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, according to Megan Shafer, acting superintendent of the Lower Merion School District. She wrote in a letter to parents, "The racist nature of these text messages is extremely disturbing, made even more so by the fact that children have been targeted."
Students at major universities, including Clemson in South Carolina and the University of Alabama, also reported receiving these messages. The Clemson Police Department released a statement expressing their disgust with the "deplorable racially motivated text and email messages" and encouraged anyone who received them to report it. Fisk University, a historically Black university in Nashville, Tennessee, called the messages "deeply unsettling" in a statement and reassured its students that they were likely sent by bots or malicious actors with no real intentions or credibility.
Nick Ludlum, a senior vice president for the wireless industry trade group CTIA, stated that wireless providers are aware of these threatening spam messages and are working to block them and the numbers they are coming from. David Brody, the director of the Digital Justice Initiative at The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, estimated that these messages have been sent to more than 10 states, including most Southern states, Maryland, Oklahoma, and even the District of Columbia. The Metropolitan Police force in the District of Columbia has stated that their intelligence unit is investigating the origin of the messages.
Civil rights laws can be applied to hate-related incidents, according to Brody. Leaders of various civil rights organizations have condemned these messages, including Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who stated, "Hate speech has no place in the South or our nation." Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP, also spoke out against these messages, saying, "The threat – and the mention of slavery in 2024 – is not only deeply disturbing but perpetuates a legacy of evil that dates back to before the Jim Crow era, and now seeks to prevent Black Americans from enjoying the same freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness." He added, "These actions are not normal, and we refuse to let them be normalized."
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