Update: 'We Are Supporting Her' – Father of Allie Dowdle's Black Boyfriend Comes to Her Defense After Parents Cut Her Off
Update January 17:
Michael Swift, the father of Allie Dowdle's boyfriend, Michael, has spoken out in support of Allie and her decision to start a GoFundMe webpage. Swift, 42, who talked to the Daily Mail from his family home in Collierville, Tennessee, spoke about Allie's choice to raise money.
"We are supporting her," Swift told the Daily Mail.
Michael's father is a former NFL player who played cornerback for the San Diego Chargers and Carolina Panthers. Michael is a freshman at Clemson University and has been dating Allie for about a year.
Additionally, Michael's uncle John Roberson, 66, a retired officer with Shelby County Sheriff's Office, said the student and soccer player is pushing through this difficult situation.
"It's a sad situation and it's just rough at this time for him but he's taking it in his stride," Roberson told the Daily Mail. "I'm quite sure that things will get better as time moves on."
Previous January 13:
A white teenage girl at a private school in Memphis is causing controversy after she started a GoFundMe page after her parents allegedly cut her off financially because she started dating a Black college student.
According to the fundraiser site, Allie Dowdle is a high school senior and she started seeing her boyfriend, Michael, “discreetly” while she tried to convince her Southern parents to accept him. However, once they were made aware that the two were romantically involved they took away her car and cellphone, and said they would no longer help her pay for college, according to Dowdle’s GoFundMe Page.
Dowdle asked for $10,000 to help her cover the first year of college and she advertised the fundraising campaign as a “say no to racism” movement. However, many believe that her fundraiser is doing nothing to help end racism.
Additionally, Dowdle’s father told New York Daily News that he did not cut her off because she is dating a Black student.
Although her father admitted that a Black man may not have been his “preference,” he said that he and his wife would let her date whomever she chose. He added that he believed that she was becoming too reliant on her parents financially so they cut her off because “it became obvious that she needed to go out in the world and grow up.”
Dowdle has raised $13,000; however, some believe her cause is misleading
"I'm confused how this is against racism, like okay, I get her family cut her off because of the skin color of the guy she was dating, but besides that, I'm not really sure how sending a white female to school is against racism? Like how is her going to school benefiting anyone in the Black community... it's wonderful she wants to get an education by the title is slightly misleading," Yung Slitherina commented on GoFundMe.
Others accuse the campaign of being racist
"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," commented Marissa Kizer.
And many pointed out the entire fundraiser was 'steeped in privilege'
