Racist texts referring to ‘picking cotton’ sent to several people across US following election

Authorities across the United States are investigating after several people, including children and college students, reported receiving racist text messages from unrecognized phone numbers in recent days.

Authorities across the United States are investigating after several people, including children and college students, reported receiving racist text messages from unrecognized phone numbers in recent days. The texts have been reported in states including Maryland, New Jersey, Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, New York and South Carolina. CNN has reached out to state officials for additional information on the text messages. “The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter,” the FBI said in a statement Thursday. Talaya Jones, a Black woman who lives in Piscataway, New Jersey, said she was “shocked” to receive a racist text on Wednesday informing her that she had been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,” she told CNN Thursday. The text also refers to “executive slave catchers,” according to a screen shot Jones shared with CNN. “My initial reaction was probably like disbelief, like I thought it was like a joke,” said Jones, who forwarded the text message to her loved ones. “It really just shows that we didn’t come as far as everybody thought we did as a nation, from back in the day when slavery was still a thing,” Jones said.