White Tennessee Girl Raises Thousands Of Dollars In College Tuition After Parents Allegedly Cut Her Off For Having African-American Boyfriend

A Tennessee high school senior has raised thousands of dollars for her college tuition after alleging that her parents cut off her funds because of an African-American boyfriend.

According to New York Daily News, Allie Dowdle, a private school student with a 4.0 GPA revealed that she had been seeing Michael Swift, a former Philadelphia Union Major League Soccer player, against her parents’ wishes. Swift, who presently attends Clemson University in South Carolina, had tried to meet Allie’s parents during the Yuletide season. According to the 18-year-old, her parents rejected her boyfriend and decided they would “no longer support my future.” The Tennessee teen purportedly said that her dad took away her car, phone and personal savings.

Allie had a goal of $10,000 on her GoFundMe Page, but has since skipped past the mark. Dowdle had made it known that on her page that her dad had insisted that she break things off with her African-American boyfriend. The 18-year-old reportedly said both of her parents had expressed disappointment in her actions, telling her that surely she was capable of doing better.

This #Tennessee teen says she was financially cut off because her boyfriend is black. https://t.co/cbtM12R8bc

— College Candy (@CollegeCandy) January 13, 2017

“My dad did not give me an option: he told me that I was not allowed to see Michael ever again. Why? Because of skin color? It wasn’t a quiet “no”. 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. I did not know what to do. I couldn’t comprehend how someone could be seen as less because of pigment. I still can’t comprehend it, and I never will be able to.”

Bill Dowdle, who runs a sports store, has insisted that the incident was never about race. According to him, he would have loved if his daughter did not date a black man because of the complications of biracial dating in the South. However, he added that it was not in his place to tell his daughter who to date because she was 18, he vehemently denied that it was about skin color.

Dowdle who is also a published author of the book The Art of Duck Calling, argued that the issue was really about his daughter’s disrespectful nature and crybaby attitude.He said he cut her benefits because “it became obvious that she needed to go out in the world and grow up.” He revealed that she had harped on the issue of race because it was a “justification and gave her the moral high ground.”

Allie opened her GoFundMe page on Thursday and has already made more than $12,000 as of the time of this report. But there were some reservations over her action to source for college tuition from the crowdfunding website. Marissa Kizer queried how helping pay for her college tuition helped to curb racism. According to her, she felt Allie was making a big deal out of dating a black guy, adding that it smacked of racial privilege.

Leroy and Gloria Griffith have been so important to the inspiration, the dreaming and the creating of Mercy… https://t.co/qnLw3lKtdp

— Mercy Junction (@Mercy_junction) January 7, 2017

“Sending a white girl from a middle-class family to college is not fighting racism. In fact, expecting to avoid work, student loans etc, and be treated like a hero for dating a black guy seems pretty racist to me.”

Michael Swift went to a $20,000-a-year all boys high school in Memphis, which is just across the street from Dowdle’s $20,000-a-year private all-girls high school. Dowdle, who also plays soccer in high school, wanted to have her college tuition by May 1. She had made it known that it was difficult to get a job in Eads, her rural hometown of around 7000 inhabitants.

Dowdle’s parents still love their daughter and are focused on helping her graduate. The teen took to her GoFundMe page to apologize to her family and reveal that that she never set out deliberately to hurt them. However, she insisted that she had no regrets over her actions.

Serena Williams engaged to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian https://t.co/IrcWvpfrkS pic.twitter.com/82FxkK8mYi

— Yves Mulkers (@YvesMulkers) January 12, 2017

“My actions reflect my conscious decision to do what I believe is right. To my family, I say once again I am genuinely sorry for the pain I have caused you, but I do not regret my decision to support my future through a GofFundMe campaign.”

She rounded up the update by appreciating all those that had taken out time to donate.

[Featured Image by Allie Dowdle/GoFundMe]