Following Donald Trump’s election win, numerous Black individuals in the U.S. reported receiving racist text messages from unidentified senders, as outlined in various [news articles](https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2024/11/07/racist-text-messages-black-students-cotton-plantations-florida/76112615007/) and [screenshots](https://x.com/RegalBasil/status/1854297048410980404) circulated on [social media](https://mashable.com/category/social-media).

Mashable confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is aware of these occurrences.

“The FBI is informed of the derogatory and racist text messages dispatched to individuals nationwide and is collaborating with the Justice Department and other federal agencies regarding this issue,” the FBI stated in a communication to Mashable.

The text messages, while slightly different in phrasing, conveyed a similar idea: recipients were informed they had been “chosen to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.” The messages directed them to be prepared at a specified time for transportation. Some iterations of the message even congratulated the recipient and were signed by a “Trump supporter.”

[Social media accounts](https://x.com/RegalBasil/status/1854297048410980404) revealed that Black students from several universities, such as the University of Alabama, Clemson University, and Alabama State University, were among those who received the messages. Benjamin Johnson, assistant vice president of media and public relations at The Ohio State University, confirmed to Mashable that students there had also received the same text.

Johnson remarked that the university had reported the messages to its Office of Institutional Equity, which manages complaints relating to harassment and discrimination. The university additionally provided support to those students impacted by the event.

[FOX 2 Detroit](https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/detroit-area-women-get-plantation-group-texts-among-wave-racist-messages-nationwide) reported that Black women in the Detroit area received similar communications, while [FOX 5 Atlanta](https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/georgia-residents-reporting-disturbing-racist-messages-before-after-election) noted that residents in Georgia had also been targeted.

Currently, it remains uncertain who is accountable for sending these messages. Following Trump’s 2016 election, there was a significant rise in [“hate incidents,”](https://mashable.com/article/hate-spike-donald-trump-election) as documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The FBI urges the public to report any threats of physical violence to local law enforcement.