*Close to a decade after commenting on NOT being an African American, Raven-Symoné is still haunted by what she said and the backlash that came with it.
According to the Daily Mail, the former “The View” co-host’s remarks stemmed from an October 2014 interview with Oprah Winfrey. Raven-Symoné recalled the situation on ‘We Need to talk…,’ the latest episode of her Tea Time With Raven and Miranda podcast on April 2, revealing she has been ‘haunted’ by the comments ‘since 2014.’
‘When that aired, I felt like the entire Internet exploded and threw my name in the garbage,’ the 38-year-old Atlanta native told her co-host and wife Miranda Maday on April 2. As the chat progressed, Raven-Symoné stated she remembered the 2014 controversy when Bill Maher brought up her past comments during a segment on Real Time With Bill Maher.
The segment in question and the “That’s So Raven” star’s remarks focused on Idris Elba’s opinion that people ‘are obsessed with race.’
“He is commenting on something I said to Oprah back in 2014,’ Raven-Symoné told Maher. After Winfrey asked, “’So you don’t want to be labeled gay?’ The former child star responded, saying, “I don’t want to be labeled gay.”
“I want to be labeled a human who loves humans. I’m tired of being labeled – I’m an American, I’m not an African American – I’m an American,’ she added.
“Oh girl, don’t set off Twitter,” Winfrey responded.
After the Oprah interview aired, Raven-Symoné found herself in the eye of a backlash from viewers who were unreceptive of her view.
Looking back at the controversy, “The Cheetah Girls” film series actor felt her comments were misunderstood in the worst way.
“There was so much backlash from my community and others that misunderstood/didn’t hear the exact words that I said,” she said during the “Tea Time” episode. “And the exact words that I said is that, ‘I’m an American, not an African American.’ A lot of people thought I said that I wasn’t Black – and I never said that.”
“When I say that African American does not align with me – that label – it doesn’t mean that I’m negating my Blackness or I’m not Black,” Raven-Symoné continued while breaking down the meaning behind what she said in 2014 for Maday. “It means I am from this country. I was born here. My mom, my dad, my great-great-great-great-great – that’s what I’m saying. The pure logistics of it.’
Raven-Symoné admitted she is very much aware of “the amount of blood, sweat, and tears’ her ancestors ‘soaked into this earth to create the America that I live in today – free, happy, tax-paying American citizen.”
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB: Raven-Symoné’s Brother, Blaize Pearman, Dead at 31 After Cancer Battle
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