Federal and state authorities are working to find the origins of racist text messages sent to Black people across the country threatening them with slavery and telling them they were “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.

The FBI and the FCC have weighed in on the messages that multiple Black people across the country received on Wednesday.

Federal and state officials say they are investigating the messages and urge people to report them

Authorities across the United States are investigating after racist text messages – some with references to “slave catchers” and “picking cotton” reminiscent of the country’s painful and bigoted past – have been received by children,

The messages, sent anonymously, were reported in several states, including New York, Alabama, California, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

Several federal and state agencies are investigating how racist mass texts were sent to black people across the country in the wake of the presidential election this week. The text messages invoking slavery were sent to black men,

Racist text messages invoking slavery raised alarm across the country this week after they were sent to Black men, women and students, including middle schoolers, prompting inquiries by the FBI and other agencies.