‘WHITE SAVIOR’ SYNDROME

Afghan All-Girls Robotics Team Tells Oklahoma Woman to Stop Taking Credit for Rescue

A lawyer for the all-girls team, which safely escaped Afghanistan, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Allyson Reneau to make her stop bragging about her alleged involvement.

A lawyer for the Digital Citizen Fund, which supports the all-girls “Afghan Dreamers” robotics team who recently escaped from Afghanistan, has sent a formal cease-and-desist letter to an Oklahoma woman who claims she helped rescue the girls. Allyson Reneau has been told to stop bragging to media outlets that she “saved” the girls from the Taliban. “Continuingly recycling old pictures with the Afghan Girls Robotics Team, many of whom are minors, as validation that you had anything to do with their immensely stressful and dangerous escape not only impacts the safety of the girls but it also significantly affects the safety of the members of the team who still remain in Afghanistan,” lawyer Kim Motley wrote to Reneau, according to the Washington Post. “It is highly unfortunate that you would use such a tragically horrible situation … for what appears to be your own personal gain.”

The Qatari Foreign Ministry, which did help rescue the girls, additionally accused Reneau of playing “white savior” in the girls rescue. Reneau insists that she did help the girls. “‘I’m above board, and if you don’t tell the truth, then you have nothing else to show for it,” she told the Washington Post, adding that she confused by the “blowback” against her.