Black people in the US received text messages after the election telling them they had been ‘selected to pick cotton’

Black people in the US received text messages after the election telling them they had been ‘selected to pick cotton’

One day after the presidential electionsand in the days that followed, reportedly, black people across the country as young as high school students, received text messages addressing them by name and telling them that they would be transported to plantations to work as slaves and ‘pick cotton’.

While the exact language of the messages varies somewhat, most appear to tell recipients that they have been “selected” or “chosen” to pick cotton, that is, work historically performed by enslaved people in the American South. Many were told they would be picked up by a van and then searched.

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The messages are said to have been received by people, many of whom are at least black students 17 statesincluding Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Louisiana, Nevada, California, Ohio, South Carolina, Michigan, Georgia and Alabama. The New York Times reported that the Louisiana Attorney General’s office traced the messages “to an encrypted virtual private network originating in Poland.” Liz Murrill, The state’s AG told the station that because the network “masked” the sender, it could have come from “anywhere in the world.” The FBI said On Thursday, the agency said it was “aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals across the country and is in contact with the Department of Justice and other federal authorities regarding this matter.”

According to The Washington Post, “Some, but not all, of the messages claimed to be from a Trump supporter or ‘the Trump administration,’ according to screenshots shared on social media and local news.” In a statement, a Trump campaign spokeswoman said: “The campaign had absolutely nothing to do with these text messages.”

There’s no real reason to believe the actual Trump campaign is connected to the lyrics, a move that would be pretty stupid. But even if Team Trump didn’t hit send on the messages, critics of the former and soon-to-be current president believe he gave racists the green light to engage in openly racist behavior. In a statement, NAACP President said Derrick Johnson said the slavery texts show how Trump’s victory has emboldened racists and reflect an increase in “despicable and disgusting rhetoric.” Arleta McCall, said the mother of a University of Alabama student who received one of the text messages After That Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail “kind of sets the tone,” adding, “People who are racist, it makes them feel like it’s okay to be publicly racist because my leader, my president, goes there goes and says whatever he wants. participation.”

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