Teen’s Dad Disowns Her For Going To Prom With A Black Friend

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High school senior, Anna Hayes from a small town in southern Arkansas called Lake Village says her father has been openly racist as long as she can remember “for unknown reasons,” she said.

However, after she decided to go with a black friend to prom, he took it to the next level.

Anna lived with her Dad for a while when she was younger after her parents divorced, but moved back in with her mother when she was a young teenager. She and her father have not had much of a relationship, she said.

“He had always been openly racist around me when I was growing up in his household, but it never really occurred to me what it exactly meant to be racist, when you’re a child you look at the world completely different,” she said.

She said her father’s views are especially hurtful because her half-sister on her mom’s side is biracial, so the issue is personal for them.”He has told me that if I ever dated a black guy that I will and would be dead to him,” she said. “I stood my ground for what I believe in. He has called me several horrible things before.”

Anna’s asked her friend Phillip Freeman to be her date to the prom.

“He is just a close friend and he’s super cute so I asked him to go to prom with me,” Anna said of Phillip. “He is a great guy, he’s really funny.”

After the dance, both Anna and Phillip posted photos of their night to Facebook. Anna said she then got the below messages from her father.

Anna hadn’t told her father about her prom because “he isn’t really a part of anything that I do.”

When she received the messages, she said she felt “incredibly sad” and said she really didn’t see this coming, despite his past comments.

“This just hurt more because I can not believe how anyone can hate someone they don’t even know because of their skin color,” she said.

Her mother was shocked as well.

“My mother was horrified and felt terrible but there isn’t anything she can do,” she said.

Anna sent the messages to Phillip, who t got “more and more angry” as he read it. He shared them on his Facebook page, and the photos went viral on a number of social media accounts.

Anna said she didn’t know Phillip was going to share the text messages, but she is “not at all” mad that he shared it.

“It’s important for people to see that racism is very much alive,” she said.

People online were absolutely horrified by what Anna and Phillip had gone through.

Some people said the language he used was unbelievable. “I have legitimately never heard someone, outside of a documentary, refer to a different race as subhuman. #heartbroken,” said one of the comments.

Anna said the attention has been “stressful and a bit unbelievable at times.”

The hard part she says – has been some people assume that she is racist too, which she is not.

Anna said that she hopes her story sends a message that “we need to fight for what is right.”

“Racism against all races needs to end. We can be the change, and if you have a family member or anyone that disowns’ you because of who you love or associate with then forget them, people will support you through this. I know they supported me for sure,” she added.