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

With Martin Luther King Jr. Day just around the corner, some Memphians are looking for a local hero who is standing up to racism. Unfortunately, they are willing to put nearly anyone on a pedestal.

On Wednesday, 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 24 hours nearly 500 people contributed more than $12,400 to her cause. By Friday, she had received $6,000 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€

They 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 come on people, are you really going to use your racism-fighting dollars to help a white woman go to college?

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.

To be clear, these are not her things. Her parents gave them to her. While the reason they took them away was ignorant and awful, they can do what they want with those items.  There are a lot of blacks and Hispanics in Memphis who don’t have cars, cellphones or personal savings. I’m sure they would like to go to college. Their grades aren’t always as good as white students because real institutional racism has put them in segregated schools.

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 a instate rate cost about $4,800.

Student loans means she has to work in the future, but that’s the fate of most low income people who go to college.

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 the Tennessee.

But instead the Internet showed her that when life is a little unfair she can complain and people will give her money.

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. 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 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 the early months of 2017, as we face a new presidential administration, ask yourself is this how you want to fight racism? By helping other white people go to college?