Black people told to ‘report as slaves’ in wave of racist texts after US election

‘You person been selected to beryllium a location slave’ – work one of the messages Black Americans received pursuing Donald Trump’s triumph successful the US elections.

A question of racist texts with references to enslaved catchers’ and ‘picking cotton’ were sent to people, including children, prompting inquiries by the FBI.

Sent anonymously from unrecognised numbers, they were reported successful a fig of states, including New York, Alabama, Ohio, California and Pennsylvania.

One of the messages said: ‘You person been selected to prime fabric astatine the nearest plantation.’

Some were labelled arsenic coming from a ‘Trump supporter’ oregon included the hashtag, #MAGA, Trump’s run slogan ‘Make American Great Again’.

Some instructed the recipient to amusement up astatine an code astatine a peculiar clip ‘with your belongings,’ portion others did not see a location. 

Tasha Dunham of Lodi, California, said her 16-year-old girl showed her 1 of the messages connected Wednesday evening earlier her hoops practice.

The connection not lone utilized her daughter’s name, but it directed her to study to a ‘plantation’ successful North Carolina, wherever Dunham said they person ne'er lived.

When they looked up the address, it was the determination of a museum.

‘It was precise disturbing,’ Dunham said. ‘Everybody is conscionable trying to fig retired what does this each mean for me? So, I decidedly had a batch of fearfulness and concern.’

Her girl initially thought it was a prank. But her parent reported it to police.

She said: ‘I was not successful slavery. My parent was not successful slavery. But we are a mates of generations away.

‘So, erstwhile you deliberation astir however brutal and atrocious slavery was for our people, it is atrocious and concerning.’

About six mediate schoolhouse students successful Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, received the messages too, said Megan Shafer, acting superintendent of the Lower Merion School District.

‘The racist quality of these substance messages is highly disturbing, made adjacent much truthful by the information that children person been targeted,’ she wrote successful a missive to parents.

Students astatine immoderate large universities, including Clemson successful South Carolina and the University of Alabama, said they received the texts.

The Clemson Police Department said successful a connection that it had been notified of the ‘deplorable racially motivated substance and email messages’ and urged anyone who received 1 to study it.

Fisk University, a historically Black assemblage successful Nashville, Tennessee, besides called the messages that targeted immoderate of its students ‘deeply unsettling.’

It is not yet wide who was down the messages and determination was nary broad database of wherever they were sent.

The FBI said it was successful interaction with the Justice Department connected the messages, and the Federal Communications Commission said it was investigating the texts ‘alongside national and authorities instrumentality enforcement.’

President of quality rights radical NAACP, Derrick Johnson, stressed these actions are ‘not normal,’ adding: ‘The menace – and the notation of slavery successful 2024 – is not lone profoundly disturbing, but perpetuates a bequest of evil that dates backmost to earlier the Jim Crow era, and present seeks to forestall Black Americans from enjoying the aforesaid state to prosecute life, liberty, and happiness.’

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