Federal officials announced on Thursday that they are investigating racist text messages targeting black Americans throughout the country.
Residents in New York, Alabama, California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Ohio have reported receiving hateful messages.
The FBI said in a statement that it is aware of the situation and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities.
The anonymous messages told recipients that they had been selected to report to a plantation to pick cotton.
The texts, which have been widely shared on social media, varied in wording but had similar tones. Some of the texts instructed individuals to meet at a specific address with their belongings, while other messages did not provide a location….