Several students at Stoughton Public Schools and Curry College in Milton on Thursday received racist spam text messages that have been targeting Black students across the country, school officials said.
The anonymous text messages tell recipients they have been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,” according to a statement from the Stoughton school district. Similar texts, which make reference to “executive slave catchers” and the new incoming Trump presidency, have been sent to students in many other states in a nationwide spam campaign seemingly targeting random students of color in the wake of the election Tuesday.
It is not clear who, or what, is behind the delivery of the texts. A Trump campaign spokeswoman told the Washington Post they had “absolutely nothing to do” with the text messages.
In a message posted to Facebook Thursday evening, Stoughton Public Schools said it learned that six high school students received the texts.
“We understand that receiving a message like this is profoundly disturbing and can cause emotional distress and fear, especially for our students and staff of color,” the statement said. It decried the messages as unacceptable and said counselors would be available Friday for students and staff.
In a press briefing Friday, Stoughton superintendent Joseph Baeta said this has a deep impact on the district’s families. “This is an intolerable, intolerable way of targeting children regardless of their age,” he said.
A spokesperson for Curry College, a small private college 30 minutes outside Boston, also said several of its students received the messages.
Both schools have informed their local police departments and are encouraging anyone with information to come forward. The Stoughton Police Department said it is working with the Massachusetts State Police and Commonwealth Fusion Center, an intelligence unit, to investigate the matter.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell condemned the spam texts on social media Thursday.
“We will not be intimidated by cowards hiding behind anonymous masks, targeting Black people in a nationwide hate campaign,” said Campbell, adding that students should report any messages to the Civil Rights Hotline (1-800-994-3228).
The FBI said in a statement it is aware of the text messages and coordinating with federal authorities. Black students across the country, including in Alabama, North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, have received similar messages, according to the NAACP.
“These messages represent an alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and stoke the flames of fear that many of us are feeling after Tuesday’s election results,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson said in a statement on Wednesday. “The threat — and the mention of slavery in 2024 — is not only deeply disturbing, but perpetuates a legacy of evil that dates back to before the Jim Crow era, and now seeks to prevent Black Americans from enjoying the same freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.”
WBUR’s Patrick Madden contributed reporting. Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
