The racist texts that have pinged the phones of Black Americans after this election show that not even the children are safe.
Middle-school kids at Hopkins Public Schools are among the cellphone users who’ve been targeted by a vile hoax: a message telling the recipient to report for slavery. Think about that. Children perhaps as young as 11 or 12 are being targeted directly on their personal devices with undisguised racial hatred.
Other Minnesotans, like Tawonda Burks of Rochester, woke up Thursday morning to read a text ordering her to show up for cotton picking. The 47-year-old mom is relieved that her youngest daughter, who swiped to play her mom’s phone the previous night without Burks knowing, didn’t read the message.
But Burks’ 11-year-old daughter came across the trend on TikTok, and now Burks is having to explain to her child what a plantation is.
If you haven’t heard the news yet, here’s a painful recap: This week Black men, women, college students and children in several states received text messages, often identifying the recipients by name, directing them as if they were slaves. It’s not clear who is sending the texts — a kid in his basement? A Russian hacker intent on sowing more distrust and division?
Some of the messages cited the recent win of president-elect Donald Trump, according to the Associated Press. The FBI issued an alert late Thursday, saying it was aware of the messages and that the agency has been in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter.
In Burks’ case, the text told her she was “selected to pick cutton [sic] at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12PM SHARP with your belongings.”
“My first thought was, “I’m glad my 6-year-old can’t fully read and comprehend what this was,’” Burks said. “Then I immediately went to, ‘What is this? Was this really sent to me? Is this a joke? I was just trying to figure out who would send something like this.”