Allie Dowdle, an 18-year-old student from Memphis, has set up a college fund for the most unlikely reason. Her parents allegedly refused to pay for her education because she has been dating an African-American named Michael.
The high school senior told her parents about her boyfriend over a year ago and they were not pleased about her choice. Since then, Dowdle's parents allegedly made things difficult for her but things got worse when Michael apparently sat down with Allie's parents face-to-face last Christmas. That's when the parents decided to strip her off her luxuries and privileges, including her college tuition, according to Cosmopolitan.
Dowdle was able to win scholarships and loans to fund for college, however, these weren't enough. She was pushed to set up a GoFund Me page illustrating her plight for the public to help her raise money.
She indicated that her parents also meddled in her school affairs, "to get me removed from the organizations I've been a part of," she wrote on the crowdsourcing page. "I still need at least $10,000 to cover the first year of my remaining out of pocket tuition for college by May 1," she further said.
The GoFund Me page has reached over $30,532 as of press time with 1,233 people sending in their donations to the teenager. The fund drive is less than five days old.
Not all netizens, however, are impressed. Some accuse Dowdle of having white privileges and her predicament is not about fighting racism.
Stop making this girl out to be some sort of hero for dating a black kid. Sending a privileged white girl to college isn't fighting racism! https://t.co/qr2t5f2Dmm
— Alexandra. (@Lixnessmonster) January 14, 2017
Her parents, on the other hand, deny that they are being racist for refusing to accept the boy their daughter chose to date. They told New York Daily News that they cut off the teen's resources because she has been seeing her boyfriend in secret and the same thing has happened with a previous boyfriend.
"It became obvious that she needed to go out in the world and grow up," dad Bill Dowdle said. He also said that they still love Allie and would want to see her finish her studies.
Do you think that Allie's was right to withdraw her college fund? What do you think of this situation? Share your thoughts in the comments!
