Meet Allie Dowdle , an 18-year-old girl from Memphis, Tennessee. Allie goes to a private school, has a 4.0 GPA and seems to live a charmed life. However, her parents recently discovered that she is dating a black man named Michael. As a result, her parents have cut her off. As in, no phone, no car and most importantly, no money for college. Allie recently created a GoFundMe to raise $10,000 for her college tuition. Currently, she has raised $35,398. That's right, she has raised $23,766 over her goal, and her page is still open!
My mom raised me to never ask for hand-outs, in fact, I had two jobs in high school and studied hard in order to earn the full tuition scholarship that I now have. My problem, however, is not the fact that she is asking for help to pay for college. Many of my friends created GoFundMe's back in the day to pay for college (admittedly they did not make nearly as much as this girl).
No, my problem is that she is using her problem in order to pay for college. The worst part though is that people are buying it! Yes, in this day and age there is racism. And yes, her dad may be racist. However, one can not use the fact that they are "cut off" as a good excuse to beg people for money. If anything, her boyfriend should be asking for money: "Help my girlfriend's parents are racist! Please pay for my college." But no, that wouldn't work. Because in the world that we live in today, pretty young white girls are victimized, black men are ignored.
It makes me angry to see that Allie has been lucky enough to receive so much money, but more than that it makes me sad. It makes me sad to think of all the GoFundMe's that got ignored, such as a family's house burning down, or a mom who needs to raise money for her child's cancer treatments, in favor of this particular GoFundMe.
I know that this article may never be read by Allie, and I know that many of you may not agree with me. However, racism is real and it is alive. There are many good ways to combat racism, but raising college tuition for a white girl is not one of them.
If by chance, though, Allie does read this: Allie I implore you to use your trending platform to raise money for a good cause. Keep the $10,000 if you must, but donate the remaining $23,766 to the Black Lives Matter Movement, or the NAACP. Donate the money to a cause that really will fight racism.
