SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco The Unified School District reported a flurry of racist texts invoking slavery which were sent to black men, women, and students.

The district said some students received racist texts from an anonymous sender.

The messages were also reported in New York, Alabama, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee after Tuesday’s presidential election. They generally used a similar tone but varied in wording.

Some instructed the recipient to report to an address at a certain time “with your goods” to “pick the cotton,” while others did not include a location. Some of them mentioned the upcoming presidential administration.

“San Francisco is a beacon for diversity and inclusion, and we will not tolerate hate in our city,” the school district said. “Our hearts go out to anyone receiving these messages.”

The district is working with the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to provide resources and support to students who received the racist text.

It was still unclear who was behind the messages and there was no comprehensive list of where they were sent, but high school and college students were among the recipients.

The FBI said it had reached out to the Justice Department about the messages, and the Federal Communications Commission said it was investigating the texts “along with federal and state law enforcement.”

David Brody, director of the Digital Justice Initiative at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights under the law, a number of civil rights laws can be applied to hate incidents. Leaders of several other civil rights organizations condemned the messages, including NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson.

“The threat — and mention of slavery in 2024 — is not only deeply disturbing, but perpetuates a legacy of evil that predates the Jim Crow era and now seeks to prevent black Americans from enjoying the same freedom to pursue their lives . freedom and happiness,” Johnson said. “These actions are not normal. And we refuse to let them be normalized”.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.