Racist text messages are being sent to Black Americans, telling them they're selected to be enslaved and assigned to pick cotton on a plantation. The widespread messages are being reported in multiple states and screenshots are going viral on social media sites. The messages vary in details but follow the same basic script.

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

Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown is calling racist text messages targeting Black residents in Maryland and several other states "horrific" and "unacceptable."

Federal, state, and local authorities are investigating the offensive messages that have been sent over the last two days.

Racist text messages are being sent to Black Americans in Ohio and around the nation, telling them they're selected to be enslaved and assigned to pick cotton on a plantation. The widespread messages are being reported in multiple states and screenshots are going viral on social media sites.

"Some students have received these hateful text messages," said Ohio State University spokesman Ben Johnson. "We have reported the messages to the Office of Institutional Equity a