Black Santa Monica Students Targeted With Racist Text Messages

SANTA MONICA, CA — As the FBI and other agencies launch inquiries into racist text messages invoking slavery being sent to Black people across the country, school officials say students at Santa Monica High School are among those who have been targeted.

The anonymous messages have been reported across California, as well as in New York, Alabama, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. The texts vary in wording, but some mention orders to show up at a "plantation" or that the recipients have been "selected to pick cotton." Others mention the incoming Trump administration.

In one example, Tasha Dunham of Lodi told the Associated press her 16-year-old daughter received a message that used her daughter's name and directed her to report to a “plantation” in North Carolina, where Dunham said they’ve never lived. When they looked up the address, it was the location of a museum.

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Antonio Shelton said the district has received several reports of Black students receiving similar text messages in recent days.

"I am extremely disheartened that our local and national youth are experiencing this unconscionable act of hate and racism. Federal, state and local authorities are investigating the offensive messages," he wrote in a letter to the community. "Targeting our students with racist messages is unfathomable. Whoever or whatever group started this campaign needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. If we learn that a SMMUSD student is involved at the local level, they will face disciplinary action to the full extent of Education Code and school board policy."

He said it is "not possible" that the text messages could have stemmed from a district data breach, as the district does not gather or retain students' cell phone numbers.

Shelton urged anyone who has received such text messages to report them to the Santa Monica Police Department at 310-458-8491. Anonymous tips can be submitted to the district online.

Los Angeles Unified School District students have also been targeted with similar messages.

"We are aware of racist and incendiary texts that are being sent nationwide, including to some of our students," Superintendent Albert Carvalho said in a message Saturday afternoon. "We unequivocally condemn this hateful and threatening rhetoric. We are investigating this situation. If you receive one of these messages, students and families should contact their school for support."

The FBI is investigating the reports.

"The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter," the agency said in a statement.

The Ohio Attorney General’s office also said it was looking into the matter.

Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel told the AP said Black students who are members of the organization’s Missouri State University chapter received texts citing Trump’s win and calling them out by name as being “selected to pick cotton."

“It points to a well-organized and resourced group that has decided to target Americans on our home soil based on the color of our skin,” Chapel said in a statement.

Nick Ludlum, a senior vice president for the wireless industry trade group CTIA, said: “Wireless providers are aware of these threatening spam messages and are aggressively working to block them and the numbers that they are coming from.”

The Associated Press and City News Service contributed to this report.