Wave of racist messages after Trump's victory causes alarm

“Greetings. You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Please be ready with your belongings at 12:00 noon, November 13, 2024, SHARP. Our exclusive slaves will pick you up in a brown van. Be prepared to be searched upon arrival on the plantation. No personal belongings allowed. This is a new beginning! You are plantation group C.” That is the disturbing message sent to the black people who follow Donald Trump’s victory in last Tuesday’s elections.

Since the morning after the election, there have been non-stop complaints – both official and public – from people who received the messages from various states. The FBI is investigating the case, but no progress has been announced so far. It remains unclear how many people have received such messages and who is behind them. Meanwhile, the reports are fueling concerns that hate crimes will increase after Trump’s victory.

According to reports, children, students at historically black colleges, and working adults have received these mass text messages, which were sent by unknown numbers from at least thirty states. The messages are strikingly similar, although some contain specific details such as the recipient’s name or address. Media outlets have also reported messages targeting Latin American individuals, warning them to prepare for deportation. However, most reports refer to cotton plantations – where millions of black slaves worked from the 17th century until the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), issued a statement we condemn the lyrics as a sign of the normalization of racist rhetoric, warning that it threatens to disenfranchise African Americans and other minorities. “The unfortunate reality of electing a president who has historically embraced and sometimes encouraged hatred is unfolding before our eyes,” Johnson said. “These reports represent an alarming increase in vile and disgusting rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and fan the flames of fear that many of us are feeling following Tuesday’s election results.”

Since Thursday, the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) have launched an investigation into the racist text messages. “The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages being sent to individuals across the country and is in contact with the Department of Justice and other federal authorities regarding this matter,” reads a statement short statement of the agency.

“These messages are unacceptable. That is why our enforcement office is already investigating and investigating these matters, along with federal and state law enforcement.” said FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel. “We take this type of targeting very seriously.”

At this time, the sender of the messages is unknown and no detailed list of recipients exists. The text messages are believed to have been sent via various platforms that allow messages to be sent from randomly generated phone numbers, using only an email address. Several companies offering these services have confirmed that they deactivated accounts once they became aware of the content.

The Nevada Attorney General’s Office described the messages as “robotext messages,” while Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill noted that the perpetrators use software to hide their identity and location. Prosecutors in other states have also issued statements on the issue.

The flurry of messages is a chilling reminder that a trend seen during Trump’s first term could repeat itself — and perhaps even intensify — in his second. According to FBI statistics, hate crimes increased by nearly 20% from the time Trump took office in 2017 until he left office in 2021. The data also shows that most of these are hate-motivated killings perpetrated by white supremacistsreached a 28-year high during his reign.

Several independent studies have attempted to explain these changes, which have reversed a decades-long decline in hate crimes. A hypothesis known as the “Trump effect” has gained widespread acceptance in academic circles that study these crimes. This theory establishes a direct link between the increase in hate crimes and the inflammatory rhetoric of Trump’s campaign, especially after his election. The argument is that the election results validated this rhetoric in the eyes of hate crime perpetrators, who felt emboldened by a president they saw as a like-minded ally. The fact that it took just hours after Trump’s victory was certified for a new wave of hate crime reports to surface does not bode well for the years to come.

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