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Alabama law enforcement is investigating after Black college students in Alabama received a barrage of racist text messages following the re-election of former President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Screenshots shared by parent groups and several Facebook users Wednesday show unknown phone numbers referencing students by name and telling them they have been “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.”
Students at the University of Alabama and Samford University, among others in Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, according to news reports, appear to have received messages.
“Be ready at 1:00 p.m. SHARP with your belongings,” one message read. “Our Executive Slaves will come get you in a Brown Van, be prepared to be searched down once you’ve enter the plantation.”
This is what black students at the University of Alabama are receiving this morning from white frats! Here’s your MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! God Bless United States of America and no place else!
Posted by Girard Warren on Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Several of the phone numbers listed in screenshots reviewed by AL.com had area codes from inside and outside of Alabama. Calls to the numbers immediately went to an automatic voicemail referencing “TextNow,” a service that allows users to create an untraceable phone number.
In a statement to AL.com, University of Alabama spokeswoman Diedre Simmons said local law enforcement was looking into the matter. Officials did not confirm whether the senders were current UA students.
“It is our understanding that individuals across the country have received these disgusting messages,” the statement read. “This has been reported to authorities, and we’re asking anyone who may have information regarding these messages to report it to the appropriate authorities. UA students who have seen or received such messages are also encouraged to contact the Office of Student Care and Well-Being for any additional support that may be needed.”
Students interviewed by The Crimson White, the university’s student newspaper, said this wasn’t their first encounter with racism following after the United States’ presidential election.
Freshman Hailey Welch told the newspaper that she was harassed by two men wearing MAGA hats outside of her dorm on Wednesday morning.
“They started yelling at me and calling me racial slurs and said go back where I came from, even though I was born here and I’m American,” Welch told The Crimson White.
Similar “plantation” text messages have made headlines across the country in the last 24 hours. In Virginia, the attorney general’s office condemned the messages, encouraging recipients to contact local law enforcement or FBI.
A spokeswoman for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall did not respond to a request for comment Thursday morning.
In a message to Samford University students and staff on Wednesday, President Beck Taylor said the college was aware of “despicable and disgusting behavior, including the uses of racial slurs, abusive language and other hateful content to demean beloved members of our community.”
A spokesman for the university did not confirm whether the message was in response to similar text messages or other incidents on campus. It is also unclear whether any disciplinary actions have been taken.
In his message Wednesday, Beck said the private, Christian university “unequivocally stands against racism, bigotry, and hatred in all its forms.”
“As we process the results of yesterday’s election, the Samford community once again has an opportunity to stand for and display the values that inspire this institution and its Christ-centered educational mission,” the message read. “Showing love for our neighbor, especially those with whom we may disagree, is a hallmark of Christian virtue. How we treat each other in our disagreement says so much about who we are and what we stand for.”
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