Less than a week after Amber Roof, the sister of accused Charleston church shooter Dylann Roof, launched a GoFundMe page to recoup nonrefundable expenses for her canceled wedding, she has taken it down, according to
Slate.
Amber Roof, 27, was to marry a U.S. Army recruiter on June 21 at the Mitchell House and Gardens in Lexington, South Carolina, the website reported.
But four days before the big day, Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old avowed white supremacist, allegedly shot to death nine black parishioners attending Bible study at Charleston’s Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Amber Roof, who FBI sources say alerted authorities and identified her brother when she saw his photo on a surveillance video broadcast on the news, canceled her wedding plans reportedly out of concern for her family’s safety and to mourn the victims, according to Slate.
"Our wedding day was suppose (sic) to be the most important and special day of our lives," she wrote on her Go Fund Me page, which listed a goal of $5,000. "It was suppose (sic) to start our lives together with our new family. Our day was the exact opposite."
"We know money cannot replace the wedding we lost and our perfect day. However, it will help us to create new memories and a new start with our new family."
GoFundMe is a crowdfunding site where people can raise money for themselves or friends for various purposes, such as when facing difficult times like an illness or accident.
USA Today reported that more than 30 donors contributed a total of
$1,545 in amounts ranging from $9 to $200. The page noted that 10 percent of money raised would be donated to the Mother Emanuel AME Church’s GoFundMe page.
In addition to paying costs of the canceled wedding, donations were going to help pay for the couple's bills and honeymoon, according to the newspaper.
Public reaction to the fundraising page ranged from sympathetic support to pointed criticism, such as the opinion of
Ebony magazine senior editor Jamilah Lemieux.
"This is PEAK White privilege: the idea that Amber's grief has any place in this narrative, and that the loss of her wedding day should matter to anyone outside of her immediate circle at this point," writes Lemieux.
"And that 10% of the proceeds were going to the victims' families is just pathetic. The irony here is that had she instead launched a campaign for the families only, businesses and individuals would have been likely tripping over themselves to reward her altruism (we have a pretty low bar when it comes to sympathizing with White women anyway, which is why plenty of folks on social media have defended her fundraiser; she'd be in line for the VP ticket if she'd thought to do this.)"
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