At least one University of Kentucky student received an anonymous racist text message similar to those sent to Black people across the U.S. this week, University of Kentucky police said Friday.
Many of the texts, reported by children, students, and adults in at least twenty states, recommend recipients sign up to pick cotton on a plantation and refer to slave catchers. The lyrics initially appeared to be aimed at black women, especially at universities in the South, but have now been reported by people across the country.
Some texts explicitly refer to this week’s US elections and newly elected President Donald Trump, but university police have not shared specific details about the information a British student received.
UKPD Chief Joe Monroe said police are working with federal authorities to investigate the source of the text message.
“We are working with the other schools in the (Southeastern Conference) as we investigate this,” Monroe said at a news conference Friday morning. “Most of these (lyrics) have the same verbiage. The numbers have been falsified, which makes them a little more difficult to track down, but we are also cooperating with federal authorities as we investigate.”
Any student who receives a text should report it to UKPD, Monroe added.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson condemned the reports in a statement this week.
“These reports represent an alarming increase in vile and disgusting rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and fan the flames of fear that many of us are feeling following Tuesday’s election results,” she said. Johnson.
“We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: there is no place for hate in a democracy,” Johnson said. “The threat – and the mention of slavery in 2024 – is not only deeply disturbing, but perpetuates a legacy of evil that predates the Jim Crow era and now seeks to prevent Black Americans from enjoying the same freedom to live their lives after to strive for. freedom and happiness.”
