Authorities across the United States are investigating after several people, including children and college students, reported receiving racist text messages from unrecognized phone numbers in recent days.

The FBI and the FCC have weighed in on the messages that multiple Black people across the country received on Wednesday.

Racist text messages received this week primarily by Black students nationwide — including in Missouri — are under investigation by federal authorities. The FBI said in a statement issued Thursday it “is in contact with the Justice Department and other federal authorities on the matter.

Black social media users across the country said they have received similar text messages. Many of the recipients are college students from a wide range of schools nationwide, including Ohio State University, Clemson University in South Carolina, the University of Southern California and Missouri State University, according to NBC News.

The source of the text message threats remain unknown as many texts are coming from different phone numbers across the country, making them difficult to trace, though they include a common theme: that the recipient "has been selected to pick cotton at the ...

The FBI is investigating after racist text messages were sent to black people across the United States. The anonymous messages told recipients to report to a plantation "to pick cotton" - an offensive reference to the historic enslavement of Black people in the United States.

Several people in West Michigan reported receiving racist text messages the day after the presidential election.

Racist texts referring to ‘picking cotton’ sent to Black people across US after election Authorities across the United States are investigating after racist text messages – some with references to “slave catchers” and “picking cotton” reminiscent of the country’s painful and bigoted past – have been received by children,