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Raven-Symoné is clarifying a previous comment she made about not being African American.
On Tuesday's (April 2) episode of her podcast "Tea Time With Raven and Miranda", Raven-Symoné addressed the 2014 Oprah Winfrey interview where she made the comment, per PEOPLE. The actress said she was clarifying the 2014 comment on her podcast after a clip of the interview resurfaced.
Raven-Symoné admitted the interview “has haunted me since 2014.”
“Now, when that aired, I felt like the entire internet exploded and threw my name in the garbage. There was so much backlash from my community and others that misunderstood slash didn’t hear the exact words that I said,” she said. “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,” she added.
In 2014, Winfrey had asked Raven-Symoné: “So you don’t want to be labeled gay?”
“I don’t want to be labeled gay,” the actress replied. “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.”
“Oh girl, don’t set off Twitter,” Winfrey responded.
On Tuesday's podcast episode, Ravyn-Symoné's spouse and co-host, Miranda Maday, asked her to further explain her comment.
“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 said. "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."
“I also understand how much blood, sweat, and tears they soaked into this earth in order to create the America that I live in today — free, happy, tax-paying American citizen,” she added.
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