Local Woman Complains After Racist Slave Text Sent To Son

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

A Virginia Beach teen said he received one of the racist texts that hundreds have complained about since the presidential election was held on November 5.

“You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12 p.m. sharp with your belongings,” the text says. “Our executive slaves will come get you in a brown van. Be prepared to be searched down once you’ve enter the plantation. You are in plantation group W.”

Rita Stith, recently told WAVY-TV that her son received one of the texts. The texts have been sent to phones in North Carolina, New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Tennessee. The FBI is investigating and the text messaging service said it quickly shut down “one or more” of the user accounts sending out the texts.

“Targeting adults in texts is one thing, but to harass, torment children, make children fearful, is very egregious,” Stith said.”

It’s sickening. It’s a very immature and vile action to come from, I’m going to just go ahead and say an adult, because in my mind … kids are smart these days, but to be so calculated with it, you know, I was very disturbed.”

A representative from TextNow, a mobile provider that allows people to create phone numbers for free, told ABC News that the company was cooperating with law enforcement and condemned the vile messages that were sent to users recently.

The texts address the recipients by name.

The TextNow representative said once the accounts that were allegedly behind the texts were reported, their teams disabled the accounts in less than an hour.

“As part of our investigation into these messages, we learned they have been sent through multiple carriers across the U.S. and we are working with partners and law enforcement cooperatively to investigate this attack,” the representative said in a statement.

“We do not tolerate or condone the use of our service to send messages that are intended to harass or spam others and will work with the authorities to prevent these individuals from doing so in the future,” the representative added.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a recent statement, “These messages are unacceptable.” The agency takes “this type of targeting very seriously.”

The mother of the Virginia Beach teen said, “You can’t take anything lightly … To me, the whole undertone of it all, it’s kind of a threat. You know, it’s to make a community of people, not just Black African-Americans, but Latino and Brown communities as well, to feel unsafe. I would like for it to be taken seriously.”