San Francisco Unified confronts racists texts targeting Black students
SAN FRANCISCO - The San Francisco Unified School District decried a flurry of racist texts invoking slavery that were being sent to Black men, women, and students.
The district said some students have received racist texts from an anonymous sender.
The messages have also been reported in New York, Alabama, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee following Tuesday's presidential election. They generally used a similar tone but varied in wording.
Some instructed the recipient to show up at an address at a particular time "with your belongings" to "pick cotton," while others didn’t include a location. Some of them mentioned the incoming presidential administration.
"San Francisco is a beacon for diversity and inclusion, and we will not tolerate hate in our city," the school district said. "Our hearts go out to anyone who is on the receiving end of these messages."
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The district is working with the Department of Children, Youth, and Their Families (DCYF) to provide resources and support to students who received the racist text.
It wasn’t yet clear who was behind the messages and there was no comprehensive list of where they were sent, but high school and college students were among the recipients.
The FBI said it was in touch with the Justice Department on the messages, and the Federal Communications Commission said it was investigating the texts "alongside federal and state law enforcement."
David Brody, director of the Digital Justice Initiative at The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a number of civil rights laws can be applied to hate-related incidents. The leaders of several other civil rights organizations condemned the messages, including the NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson.
"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," Johnson said. "These actions are not normal. And we refuse to let them be normalized."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.