Black Americans across the country are receiving harmful texts telling them they have been selected to ‘pick cotton at the nearest plantation’.
According to Fox 2, multiple women in the Detroit area received messages on Wednesday (November 6) saying they had been selected to pick cotton.
“Good afternoon Renee! You have been chosen to pick cotton at your nearest plantation. Be ready at 10am with all of your personal items & possessions because you will never see them again,” one text message to a Detroit-area resident read. “We will pick you up in a white bus. You will be checked for drugs & other substances! Once you make it here you will be brought to your designed area. You are in group 10B”.
A second woman received a similar message from a different number, per Fox 2.
“Greetings You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12AM NOVEMBER 13 SHARP with your belongings. Our Executive Slaves will come get you in a Brown Van, be prepared to be searched down once you’ve entered the plantation. You are in Plantation Group D.”
Both text messages were received the day after the presidential election.
Officials could not say where the anonymous messages originated.
A statement from the FBI said the agency 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.”
Representatives from civil rights advocacy organizations, including the SPLC and the NAACP’s Columbus chapter, said the contents of the messages constituted hate crimes.
“This is the first I’ve ever seen of this kind of racist attack using texts – it’s frighteningly personal and harrowing,” said Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism. “I’ve also never seen this kind of racist messaging threatening people directly.”
As 13newsnow reports, cybersecurity expert Greg Tomchick, said that a data broker, or someone who collects and or sells a person’s personal data, could be behind the viral text message.
“A typical data broker has about 15 data points on every single American. Eventually, their database, once they buy it from that company that gets the information and then now they have a database where they can filter through based [off of] race, location, and preferences, then be able to put them into a list to send a targeted text message like we’ve seen in this case,” said Tomchick.