Nyack School District students targeted with racist texts

Attorney General Letitia James has condemned racist text messages sent to Nyack Middle and High School students and other districts throughout the state.

The students reported receiving text messages saying they were “selected to pick cotton.” The Rockland County Sheriff’s Office and FBI are also investigating the texts.

“The racist text messages targeting New Yorkers, including middle school, high school, and college students, are disgusting and unacceptable,” James said. “I unequivocally condemn any attempt to intimidate or threaten New Yorkers and their families. I encourage anyone in New York who has received an anonymous, threatening text message to report it to my office.”

In a letter to district families, Nyack Superintendent Lizzette Ruiz-Giovinazzi said that law enforcement is investigating the texts.

“We were made aware this morning of explicitly racist text messages that were sent to some of our students, consistent in wording with social media messaging and that have appeared in several states following Election Day results,” Ruiz-Giovinazzi wrote. “These text messages were sent specifically to Black and Brown students from our middle and high school. While there are slight variations in the wording, these texts are horrific and explicitly racist, specifically threatening ‘to make students slaves, take them to plantations to pick cotton or that they will be deported to Africa.”

James said that in recent days there have been reports of New Yorkers and people across the country receiving messages from unknown, anonymous senders claiming that they have been “selected to pick cotton at [their] nearest plantation,” or “chosen to be a slave.” These texts appear to be targeting Black and Brown individuals, including students, and may include personal information about the recipient such as their name or location.

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) encourages anyone who has received a message like this to report it to the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Bureau by calling 800-771-7755, emailing civil.rights@ag.ny.gov, or filing a complaint online.