“Say no to racism” by putting a white woman through college

This opinion was published Jan. 13 online and updated for print.  

White Memphian Allie Dowdle asked the Internet to “say no to racism†and for $10,000 to pay for her college tuition.

In less than 16 hours of posting on Jan. 11, nearly 500 people contributed more than $10,000 to her cause. A week later, she had received more than $30,000 over her original goal.  

Amazing, right?

The 18-year-old raised the money by writing about her good grades, extra curricular activities and how her parents are refusing to pay her college tuition because she has a black boyfriend.

“How could my love for another person be wrong because of his skin color? And why would that make me unworthy of a future I've worked so hard for?†she asked in the GoFundMe post. “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.â€

“The public†didn’t just support her financially either.  Scrolling through the photos of those who gave money, one will see those who donated were quick to lionize her as a person who stood up to racism.

“You are a bright girl who truly is an inspiration and the future of America,†wrote one white woman who donated $10. “No one should be that deserving of hate. Prayers are with you.â€

“Thank you for standing up to hate and racism,†wrote a white man who gave $10. “You give me hope.â€

If what Dowdle said about her parents is true, then they are wrong-headed bigots and the 18-year-old deserves credit for standing up to them. But those who are donating to Dowdle are not fighting racism.

Yes, Dowdle is facing an awful situation, but consider where your money is going.  

What she says about her academic life is impressive, but Dowdle isn’t owed any of the things she complained about.

“My parents have chosen to no longer support my future, stripping me of all my resources including my personal savings, my car, my phone and my education,†she wrote online.

There are a lot of black and Hispanic people in Memphis who don’t have cars, cellphones or personal savings. I’m sure they would like to go to college. They aren’t always going to get to go to expensive schools because real institutional racism has put them in segregated schools.

Nearly 75 percent of college students who receive the Pell Grant have no savings or cash on hand, the Education Department reported in 2015. Almost 85 percent of Pell Grant recipents will graduate with student debt, and Black and Hispanic students leave college with more debt than white students, according to a report by Demos, a left leaning think tank.

With grades as high as she is claiming, Dowdle could go to the University of Memphis and probably cover most of her school and housing with scholarships and student loans.

Five classes a semester at the U of M at the instate rate cost about $4,800.

Student loans mean she has to work in the future, but that’s the fate of most low-income people who go to college. Only those who come from wealthy or upper middle class families expect to go to expensive schools and escape university without student loans.

Dowdle could have stood up to her parents up by showing her values trumped her desire to go to an expensive school. She could have proven she could make it under any circumstance. She could have gone to a school that, while still majority white, has a larger black student population than any other in Tennessee. She could have known the real struggle of racism in higher education.

But instead, the Internet showed her that she does not have to make a sacrifice that big, like so many low-income students who could never dream of affording an expensive school.

I don’t blame Dowdle. She’s a teenager who vented to the Internet with a ridiculous First World problem. That’s what teens do. I do blame white people who don’t know or understand what racism is and donated to her.

Dowdle is dealing with bigots in her family, which is a hard thing to do. People who donated to Dowdle are not “saying no to racism.†They are saying that a white woman from a middle class family should not have to suffer the way many poor minorities do. That’s what a woman who donated $25 said.

“As someone who lived a similarly cushy life, I know how hard it would have been to have been raised that way and abruptly have my support stripped from me —would not have known what the hell to do,†said the female donor who went on to quote Dr. Martin Luther King. “Keep your head up! ‘Judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.’-MLKJâ€

Nearly 50 years ago, it was a crime for white and black people to get married in Tennessee and almost all of the states that made up the Confederacy.

The landmark 1967 Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia, changed the law but not minds.

Mildred Loving, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, were arrested and ordered to leave their home by a racist system. It took years for them to finally be able to move back to their home.

Dowdle and her boyfriend are not the Lovings. They are not making any sacrifices, and giving money to her is not fighting racism. 

In this first month of 2017, ask yourself, is this how you want to fight racism? By helping other white people go to college? 

Finally, I’ve tried to contact Dowdle to get her side of the story, but I was told she is not speaking to reporters. It appears Dowdle is ignoring criticism. She has taken down all of posts on her GoFundMe page that questioned the ethics of her page.

But maybe she will read this. Dowdle, you can shut down most of your critics by donating the more than $20,000 raised in excess of your goal to the United Negro College Fund or other organizations that help the disadvantaged.

It’s a lot of money to give away. You may be tempted to use it toward a car, cellphone or other items you believe are owed to you, but fight that urge. Use it to help other people pay for tuition.