The texts, which showed up as early as Wednesday morning, were reported in at least 13 states across the country.

Federal and state authorities are working to find the origins of racist text messages sent to Black people across the country referencing slavery and telling them they were “selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation.

Racist text messages were sent to scores of Black people the day after the election telling them they had been “selected” to pick cotton “at the nearest plantation.”