Racist texts tell Black people in US to prepare for slavery

'It points to a well-organized and resourced group that has decided to target Americans on our home soil based on the color of our skin'

(Image credit: fotostorm / Getty Images)

By Peter Weber, The Week US

published 8 November 2024

What happened

The FBI said yesterday it's looking into "offensive and racist text messages" sent to Black people in at least a dozen states since Wednesday morning. Authorities in several of the states are also investigating the anonymous messages, which told recipients — as young as middle school students and often addressed by name — to prepare to "pick cotton" on slave plantations.

Who said what

The text messages "used a similar tone but varied in wording," The Associated Press said. A typical text told the recipient to show up "with your belongings" at a spot where "our executive slave owners will come get you in a brown van" for transport to "the nearest planation." Some included references to the president-elect, Donald Trump, who "stoked racism throughout his campaign," The New York Times said. Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told The Washington Post "the campaign has absolutely nothing to do with these text messages," and suggesting otherwise would be an "asinine and defamatory accusation."

Cybersecurity experts said the text messages could be sent from the U.S. or abroad, possibly using lists of names and phone numbers generated for the political campaigns and their PACs and contractors. Either way, "it points to a well-organized and resourced group that has decided to target Americans on our home soil based on the color of our skin," Missouri NAACP chief Nimrod Chapel said in a statement.

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What next?

Texts threatening Black people with slavery in 2024 is "not normal," NAACP President Derrick Jackson said. "And we refuse to let them be normalized."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.