Raven-Symoné took to YouTube to clear up the 2014 remark. (Distinctive Nicole/Getty)
That’s So Raven actress Raven-Symoné has cleared up feedback she stated to Oprah Winfrey in 2014 about not being “African American”.
In October 2014, Raven-Symoné spoke to Oprah about her sexuality and why she refuses to just accept being labelled in all features of her life.
She stated on the time: “I don’t wish to be labeled homosexual. I wish to be labelled a human who loves people.
“I’m bored with being labelled — I’m an American, I’m not an African American. I’m an American.”
A decade on from the dialog, the Cheetah Ladies actress has clarified what she meant, after feeling her remark was taken out of context.
On Tuesday (2 April), Raven-Symoné took to YouTube to submit a Tea Time With Raven and Miranda podcast, which she hosts along with her spouse Miranda Maday, titled “We have to speak…”.
The seven-and-a-half minute episode opens with Raven-Symoné explaining that she by no means stated she wasn’t Black.
She stated she had determined to handle the decade-old feedback after they started to be reshared within the wake of US speak present Actual Time with Invoice Maher referencing previous feedback by actor Idris Elba that individuals “are obsessive about race”.
Maher in contrast Elba’s views to the remark Raven-Symoné made to Oprah in 2014.
The Disney star stated her assertion had been misunderstood by many and had “haunted” her ever since.
She defined: “Now, when that aired, I felt like your complete web exploded and threw my title within the rubbish. There was a lot backlash from my group and others that misunderstood slash didn’t hear the precise phrases that I stated.
“And the precise phrases that I stated is that, ‘I’m an American, not an African American.’”
She added: “Once I say that African American doesn’t align with me — that label – it doesn’t imply that I’m negating my Blackness or I’m not Black.
”It means I’m from this nation. I used to be born right here. My mother, my dad, my great-great-great-great-great — that’s what I’m saying. The pure logistics of it.”
Raven-Symoné stated she understands her historical past and appreciates her heritage, however that following the interview she was made to really feel “attacked, judged and never heard”.
The 38-year-old stated she felt reassurance in discovering many others within the trade felt just like her, together with soul singer Smokey Robinson who wrote the poem “A Black American”, and in 2022 stated he hates being labeled “African American.”
Throughout an look on The View, Robinson defined: “I resent being referred to as African American as a result of Black individuals have contributed a lot to the event of the USA of America.”