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Teen accuses parents of racism, raises $35K on GoFundMe for college

Jody Callahan
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee

After an Eads teenager used a crowdfunding site to accuse her parents of racism over her black boyfriend, supporters have contributed nearly $35,000 to pay for her college tuition.

Allie Dowdle, 18, who is white and a senior at The Hutchison School, posted her GoFundMe plea online on Jan. 11, and barely a week later, contributors have raised $34,675, far surpassing the original goal Dowdle set of $10,000.

But the crowdfunding site and the teen's tale of woe haven't been without controversy.

This began, Dowdle wrote, about a year ago when she informed her parents, Bill and Demetra Dowdle, that she was dating Michael Swift. Swift, who is black, is a former soccer standout at Memphis University School who now plays midfield and forward as a freshman at Clemson University. His father is Michael Swift, who spent four years in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and the San Diego Chargers.

"I showed my parents his picture, and the conversation was over before it even began," Dowdle wrote. "My dad did not give me an option: he told me that I was not allowed to see Michael ever again. Why? Strictly because of skin color. It wasn't a quiet "no," either. 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," she wrote.

Dowdle continued to see Swift in secret, she wrote, but about a month ago she told her parents they were still dating. According to Dowdle, her parents then took away her phone, car and money and then refused to pay for college. Dowdle added that she was still living at home, though.

Message and phone calls left for the Dowdle family were not returned. Reached at his Collierville home earlier this week, the elder Swift also declined to comment. Bill Dowdle operates a local sporting goods business, Dowdle Sports.

However, Bill Dowdle spoke to the New York Daily News earlier, saying that his daughter "dating a black man may not be his 'preference' because of 'issues' involved with biracial dating in the South," the paper said.

"It was never about race," the paper quoted Dowdle as saying, adding that his daughter's comments are “a justification and gave her the moral high ground.”

Dowdle said he disapproved of Swift and another of his daughter's boyfriends because she started dating them secretly. Dowdle added that he decided to cut off her college money because she has been spoiled and “it became obvious that she needed to go out in the world and grow up,” the paper wrote.

While many of those who contributed money have congratulated Allie Dowdle on her stand against racism, others have questioned whether that's really what she is doing.

"You aren't entitled to a free education because you're dating a black guy," a woman named Ashlyn Rae posted on Twitter. Another Twitter user, Marissa Kizer, said, "Sending a rich white girl to college is not fighting racism. Just go to a cheaper school."

Charles McKinney is an associate professor at Rhodes College and director of that school's Africana studies program. He praised Dowdle's stance against racism, but also said he found the community's reaction to her plea intriguing.

"This thing has gone viral. That’s a testament to her brave stance against racism," McKinney said. "We’re good at identifying these individual stances against prejudice. The reason that there was so much blowback is this is what we always tend to do. We tend to glorify individual stances while we perpetually ignore instances of institutional racism."

But when asked if he would be interested in donating to Dowdle, McKinney had a quick answer.

"No. ‘Cause she’s gonna be OK. Allie’s gonna be fine. This is unfortunate and it’s bad. But it’s offensive to suggest that of all the instances of racism we could find in Memphis, Tennessee, this is the one that people should give money to," he said. "This is unfortunate that this has happened to her, but I’m much more interested in the response to this story, how it’s being spun as the community rallying around the unfortunate victim of racism. In a community where African-Americans are disproportionately underemployed, less educated and poorer … and this is the story that bubbles up to the top. What does that say about us?"

Allie Dowdle, shown with her boyfriend, identified as Michael Swift, posted this picture on her GoFundMe page