(ABC 6 News) – A wave of racist text messages have been sent to Black Americans in multiple states, including Minnesota.

“Try to use fear, trying to use hatred to really intimidate folks, that is not acceptable,” said Wale Elegbede, President of the Rochester branch of the NAACP.

Tawonda Burks is one of many who received a racist text from an unknown source, which she first noticed early Wednesday morning.

The text said in full, “Greetings Mrs. Tawonda Burks You have been selected to pick cutton at the nearest plantation. Be ready at 12PM SHARP with your belonging. Our Executive Slaves will come get you in a Brown Van, be prepared to be searched down once you’ve enter the plantation. You are in Plantation Group S”

“Who is behind a computer or some type of texting software that’s as nasty as this to do something like that? It’s not funny, it’s not a joke, this is serious,” said Burks.

Happening on the heels of the election, Burks says she initially thought she was targeted because she had run for Olmsted County Commissioner, until she posted a screenshot of the text to social media and learned others had gotten similar messages.

“The day of election and the day after, you know, many Black people receive this text message? You know, that’s traumatizing,” said Burks.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says a good friend of his also received one of these texts.

“The message was disturbing, and it mentioned site, it said you’ve been selected to pick cotton at in Montecello, MN and a plantation,” said Ellison. “It gave a specific location she needed to be available at and said you are in plantation group D.”

At this time, we don’t know how many people have been affected, but authorities say it is a widespread issue, not just in Minnesota, but across multiple states.

“We have not determined what law these things may have violated, that doesn’t mean they haven’t, they don’t violate laws, they very well do,” said Ellison.

The Attorney General’s Office is working with multiple state and federal agencies, including the FBI, to investigate.

“We are going to find out who sent these things, if it’s possible to do so, and we’re gonna hold them fully accountable as much as the law provides,” said Ellison.

The FBI provided ABC 6 News a statement regarding its investigation, saying:

“The FBI is aware of the offensive and racist text messages sent to individuals around the country and is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter. As always, we encourage members of the public to report threats of physical violence to local law enforcement authorities.”

The FBI did not answer questions about how many people have received these messages.

Right now, it’s unclear why those who got a text were targeted, other than because they are Black. 

“Everyone that got the message has a black-sounding name, you know so that could be it,” said Elegbede. “They reached their intended targets, which was the Black community.”

Officials also aren’t yet sure what inspired the messages, but believe it is a reaction to the election results.

“People thinking that it is now time for to be free to express this kinds of hate,” said Ellison.

“I am not surprised,” said Elegbede. “I am surprised at the message, but the last election when President Trump got elected, we saw a lot of hatred and vitriol that was coming out, so I knew there was gonna be some things that were gonna happen and we have to retool ourselves.”

Members of the Black community say hate like this is the reality of the world we live in.

“It’s a feeling that really can’t be described a lot of times of what we go through each and every single day,” said Burks. “I’m one of many that have what we would call a thick skin, so I can hear it and it goes out the other ear at the same time, but that doesn’t make it okay.”

However, there is hope this incident will serve as a wake-up call to others that Black and brown marginalized communities are being targeted.

“What are you gonna do about it? Because if we are a community, and we are, everyone has a responsibility,” said Elegbede.

Burks hopes the outcome of this situation will be finding solutions within our community to end hate and racism, and hold perpetrators accountable for their actions.

“We believe in liberty and justice for all. All means all. Nobody gets to target somebody else because they don’t like their skin color,” said Ellison.

Minnesotans who have received one of these messages can contact the Attorney General’s Office by calling 651-296-3353 or filing a complaint online here.

You should also alert your local law enforcement agency.