Racist texts barrage Black Americans post-election
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The J. Edgar Hoover building, Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters. Photo: Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Federal and state authorities are investigating a string of racist text messages sent to Black people across the U.S. during the week of the presidential election.
The big picture: Racist messages echoing slavery's horrors have hit phones nationwide, targeting students and adults alike.
- Shared widely on social media, the texts have prompted investigations by the FBI, Justice Department, Federal Communications Commission and state authorities as they spread across multiple states.
Driving the news: The message tells recipients — personalized with their names — that they're expected to report to a plantation to pick cotton, a disturbing reminder of America's history of slavery.
- "These actions are not normal," NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said. "And we refuse to let them be normalized."
- The texts have been sent to people in states including Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, New York, Texas, California, Ohio and Louisiana.
State of play: The origin of the messages remains unclear, and the number of origin is varied.
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department are "aware of the offensive and racist text messages," per a Thursday statement.
- Attorneys general in several states said they're investigating the communications.
What we're watching: TextNow, a free text and call service, said "one or more" of its accounts was used to send messages that violated the company's terms and services.
- The accounts were disabled within an hour of the company becoming aware, a spokesperson said on Friday.
President-elect Trump's peddling of racist rhetoric throughout his campaign and his subsequent victory emboldened hate speech, Johnson said.
- Trump's campaign "has absolutely nothing to do with these text messages," said spokesperson Steven Cheung.
What they're saying: "Free speech doesn't protect telephone harassment," said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R).
- Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) called the texts "disgusting" and said "they only intend to divide us."
Zoom in: School districts in Maryland and California emailed parents to notify them that students had received the messages and to condemn their content.
- "Law enforcement in some areas have announced they consider the messages low-level threats," said Maryland's largest school district, Montgomery County Public Schools.
- New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) said Black and brown students have been targeted.
- The messages also circulated among college students.
Go deeper: Massachusetts high school, college students among targets of racist texts
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from Trump's campaign.
