Following the recent presidential elections, Black high school students alongside Latinx and LGBTQIA+ students received racist and hateful text messages from anonymous phone numbers.
A student in our community received one of the racist text messages on Nov. 6, the day after the election. The student said, “I was confused, shocked and concerned about how they got my information and what skin color I was.”
The student detailed information in the text: “I had received the message that I was recruited to be in a certain slave group (C) and plantation.”
This individual felt very nervous that they received this message, especially because they are still in high school and did not vote yet. They strongly advise that whoever receives these text messages should “report and be careful about the information they put online. Nobody deserves any racial discrimination towards them.”
Principal Glatz sent out an email to staff and families, informing them about these incidents. In his email he wrote, “At any time you or a fellow student receives such distributing messages, always bring them to the attention of a trusted adult here at Pace.”
Teachers, as well as counselors in the Pace community, also strongly urge students to report and share with a trusted individual if they have received these messages.
Mr. Glatz said that as of now there are two reported cases in the school, but in the building, talking with administration from the other schools, there has been an increasing amount of these incidents.
Most recently after the racist texts, many individuals in the Latinx and LGBTQIA+ community received text messages stating that they “should be ready to get deported” and will be forced to relocate to a “reeducation camp.”
What started with these texts specifically targeting black individuals has now expanded to the Latinx and LGBTQ+ community.
After the election results were announced, these texts automatically started popping up in Black students’ phones. Many believe that there was a data leak when filling out their voters registration which resulted in these text messages.
The FBI is investigating this incident stating that anonymous numbers will be identified and if you know anything about these messages to report it automatically. It is recommended to monitor where you put your information and to be 100% certain that it is a reliable site.
In the email from Mr. Glatz, there was a message from The Attorney General’s Office encouraging everyone who has received messages like this to report it to the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau by calling 800-771-7755, emailing [email protected], or filing a complaint online. The FBI has also requested to call 1-800-CALL-FBI to report these messages.
This story was first published by Pacer NYC on November 23, 2024.
