Northern California teen among wave of Black U.S. residents to receive racist texts
LODI — Thousands of Black residents across several U.S. states reported that they received racist texts the day after the election.
The reports have come out of at least 20 states, including California, according to CBS News.
One of the people who received a text was a teen in the San Joaquin County city of Lodi. On her way to basketball practice Wednesday, Tasha Dunham's 16-year-old daughter received a text that said: "You've been selected to be a house slave."
The text included an address in North Carolina and further said: "You're in Plantation Group B."
"I was completely blown away. That was not anything that I ever expected," Dunham said.
She was shocked not only by the racism in the text message but also that it was personalized, specifically for her teenage daughter as it included her name.
We called the 209 area code number the message came from, but there was no answer.
"My daughter initially was thinking it was a prank from one of her friends," Dunham said. "I've learned it's a targeted demographic. It's mainly Black people and children."
It is a troubling nationwide trend that is now being investigated by the FBI.
Bobby Bivens, the president of the NAACP's Stockton branch, said that when the political climate shifts like it did this week, they prepare for an uptick in racism.
"It's not surprising," Bivens said. "There were expectations of reactions from various groups depending on the outcome of the election."
Bivens added that even before Election Day, all NAACP branches had a meeting with the FBI over concerns about a potential increase in racist attacks.
"We don't necessarily believe that if the election had gone to Vice President Harris, it would've been any different because President-elect Trump has stirred up racism for years," he said.
The NAACP has an online form that can be filled out if anyone has received one of these texts. All submissions will be turned into the FBI.
"In this situation, it's a text message, but in other situations, people have been physically attacked," Dunham said. "Thank God that wasn't our situation, but I think it is giving insight into how things can be and giving us a preview."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for President-elect Donald Trump said his campaign had "absolutely nothing to do with these text messages."
