Interracial dating remains a taboo in some parts of the country, as hard as it is to fathom. Old prejudices die hard, and it's up to the younger generation to finally bury the outdated beliefs of their parents.
Allie Dowdle, a white high school senior at a private school outside of Memphis, was crushed to experience intense backlash from her parents upon showing them a picture of her boyfriend Michael, who happens to be black. "I'll never forget the yelling my parents did, when they expressed how disappointed they were in me, that I could do so much better," Allie said. "I still can't comprehend it, and I never will be able to."
That was a year ago, and in the wake of the disapproval of her parents, Allie and Michael continued to date secretly. About a month ago, Allie brought Michael to see her parents in an attempt to reconcile with them, though this time, their reaction was even more extreme. They took away her car as well as her phone, cut her off from her savings account, and most drastically, refused to pay a dime towards her college tuition.
Still set on going to college, Allie has resorted to seeking out the public's goodwill in order to help her reach the $10,000 she needs for her first year.
She has set up a GoFundMe page in order to compensate for her parents withdrawing their funds. "Because my parents have listed me, their own daughter, as someone who is not worthy of their time and money, I have turned to the public for support," she wrote on the page. "It hurts me to have to ask for money, as I'd rather be out working for it myself, but I currently have no other options."
After just one day after going live, her campaign has amazingly surpassed its goal. At this point in time, she has already raised over $16,000 as a result of over 600 individual donations.
Allie claims to have received some financial aid and to have attained some funds through grants and loans, but she says she cannot cover the rest of her tuition on her own, partly due to her not having a car and thus not being able to drive herself to a job.
In hearing about his daughter's attempt to go public about her dating situation, Allie's father, Bill Dowdle, told the New York Daily News that his concerns about her and Michael were "never about race," though he did admit that seeing her date a black guy was not his "preference," due to "issues" regarding interracial dating in the South. He said that he was more so opposed to the relationship because it was conducted in secret.
Allie's father expressed that she portrayed the situation as being all about race so she could feel like she had the "the moral high ground." He claims that he cut off her college tuition because he thought she was spoiled, saying, "it became obvious that she needed to go out into the world and grow up."
As she has already carried out a successful GoFundMe launch, it seems Allie will safely be able to attend college next semester. Though many have found her efforts to be inspiring, others have deemed the fundraiser to be misguided. She has called her GoFundMe campaign "Allie's Tuition - Say No to Racism," and some people on the site have suggested that the drive is doing little to fight racism, and is instead just giving a white girl a free ride to college. In any case, Allie and Michael look like a happy couple, and it's encouraging to see them staying together despite her naysaying parents.
You can donate to Allie's college fund here.