At least 1 UK student received racist text similar to ones seen across US this week

At least one University of Kentucky student received an anonymous racist text similar to ones 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 20 states, order recipients to report for duty picking cotton at a plantation and reference slave catchers. The texts initially seemed to target Black women, particularly at universities in the South, but have now been reported by people across the country.

Some texts explicitly reference this week’s U.S. election and President-elect Donald Trump, but university police did not share specifics details of the one received by a UK student.

UKPD Chief Joe Monroe said police are working with federal authorities to investigate the source of the text message.

“We are cooperating with the other schools in the (Southeastern Conference) as we investigate this,” Monroe said at a news conference Friday morning. “Most of these (texts) have the same verbiage. The numbers are spoofed, which makes it a little bit more difficult to track back, but we’re also working with the federal authorities as we investigate this.”

Any student who receives a text should report it to UKPD, Monroe added.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson condemned the messages in a statement this week.

“These messages represent an alarming increase in vile and abhorrent rhetoric from racist groups across the country, who now feel emboldened to spread hate and stoke the flames of fear that many of us are feeling after Tuesday’s election results,” Johnson said.

“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 dates back to before the Jim Crow era, and now seeks to prevent Black Americans from enjoying the same freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.”