Just days after Election Day 2024, anonymous text messages have targeted Black Americans across nearly a dozen states, instructing them to “pick cotton" at local plantations.

Officials and universities in a growing number of U.S. states are condemning racist text messages that were sent to Black residents this week. The messages, which began appearing Wednesday, were received by people in at least 20 states and the District of Columbia,

The messages include references to slavery and were received across the country.

Lower Merion and Upper Darby school districts are warning parents about racist text messages received by a number of their students.

Racist text messages summoning Black individuals to "pick cotton" have been sent out to residents across the country, including in Texas, in the wake of the presidential election. Houston area resident Laura Bass Brown told KHOU 11 her daughter,

Racist, anonymous text messages were sent to Black people across the U.S. telling them to report to a plantation to pick cotton, according to law-enforcement officials and civil-rights leaders. Black people in states including Alabama,