STOUGHTON – The racist texts sent to women, men and students of color in several states now includes Massachusetts.

Stoughton High School students

Some black students at Stoughton High School received the spam messages Thursday, according to Stoughton Public Schools, and police were alerted.

“This particular text, in part, notifies the recipient that they have been ‘selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation,'” the school department said in a statement thursday evening

“This is part of a despicable trend nationwide. People across the country have reported receiving this text, and others similar in nature, throughout the day today. The source of these text messages is unknown at this time. We are asking if any student or staff member receives this or a similar text message to report it to school administration.”

Racist text messages

CBS News found that the texts were sent to people in several other states, including New York, Alabama, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Ohio.

“The FBI is aware of offensive and racist text messages being sent to individuals across the country and is in contact with the Department of Justice and other federal authorities regarding this matter,” the agency told CBS News in a statement. “As always, we encourage members of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement.”

“These messages represent an alarming increase in hateful and hateful rhetoric from racist groups across the country,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson. “These actions are not normal. And we refuse to let them be normalized”.

Counselors available in Stoughton

Counselors will be available to students and staff on Friday at Stoughton High School.

“We understand that receiving such a message is deeply disturbing and can cause emotional distress and fear, especially for our students and staff of color. In no uncertain terms, messages like these are acceptable. Stoughton Public Schools opposes any form of racism, discrimination or hate,” the school department said.