Following Donald Trump's decisive victory, a number of Black students in Michigan and elsewhere in the country have gotten text messages saying they've been selected to go to a plantation to pick cotton, the Detroit Free Press reports.
Tresa Baldas of the Freep reports:
The Detroit Free Press has learned of multiple such incidents in Michigan, including four Black female students at North Farmington High School, four teens in the Grand Rapids area, and five students at Grand Valley State University, including one who reported being threatened and racially harassed by a group of people on campus after the election.
The source of the text messages threats remain unknown as many texts are coming from different phone numbers across the country, making them difficult to trace, though they include a comment theme: that the recipient "has been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation." One sent to a teenage girl in the Grand Rapids area ended with the hashtag #MAGA.
“Greetings! You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,” the message reads. “PLEASE be ready by 12 am November 15,2024! NO EXCEPTIONS !! Bring all of your belongs our Exclusive slaves will be there by 11:45 to pick you up in a Large Brown van, Be prepared to get searched and patted down once inside of the plantation A 1st cabin to your right ! -Thank you.”
After Trump was elected in 2016, there were reports of Hispanic students at the Royal Oak Middle School on N. Washington Ave. being harassed by a group of students who chanted "build the wall." A noose was also found in a boys bathroom.
