LAUSD officials investigating racist texts sent to students
Authorities are investigating a series of racist text messages that were sent to Black and Hispanic students in the Los Angeles Unified School District, part of a much larger trend occurring across the country.
"We are aware of racist and incendiary texts that are being sent nationwide, including to some of our students," said LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho in a statement released over the weekend. "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."
While the source of the messages remains unclear, reports began surfacing on Wednesday afternoon. LAUSD was one of many school districts across the nation where students began to receive similar messages, which make references to slavery and picking cotton. As of Sunday, students in at least 32 states reported being targeted by the texts.
Because of the widespread nature of the messages, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched their own probe on the matter.
"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," a statement said.
Ericka Lesley says all three of her children received a text.
"As a mother to Black sons, this is not something that we just started to have a conversation about," she said. "Racism is alive and well, even though some people think it is not."
Lesley has two sons that attend Santa Monica High School, and one who is in college. All three received the text being sent across the country.
"It is very nefarious and for them to target children, minors, our youngest of our society, is admissible to say the least," she said.
On Friday, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Antonio Shelton shared a letter condemning the messages.
"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," the letter said in part. "If we learn that a SMMUSD student is involved at the local level, they will face disciplinary action to the full extent of the Education Code and school board policy."
Local activists are demanding that more be done, calling for a state of emergency to address the issue.
"This is really an organized effort. Some thought went into this, some planning, and something else they actually did target individual students," said Earl Ofari Hutchison, the President of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable. "It wasn't just random thing, so anytime you have that kind of planning, we would be well served to take it very seriously."
In response to the continued reports, Los Angeles County Office of Education Superintendent Debra Duardo shared a message on Sunday evening.
"We are deeply saddened and outraged by the racist text messages targeting both Black and Latino students in Los Angeles County and across the nation," the message said. "References to slavery and demeaning stereotypes strike at the very heart of our education community's values, instilling fear and creating division."
