Raven-Symoné is opening up about a controversial statement from 2014 about her racial identity. In a recent episode of her podcast, “Tea Time With Raven and Miranda,” she addressed the misinterpretation of her words.
“A lot of people thought I said that I wasn’t Black. And I never said that,” she declared. Raven-Symoné explained that her intention was not to deny her Blackness but to reject labels that limit her identity.
“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,” she clarified. “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.”
Raven-Symoné Revisiting Past Comments
The issue resurfaced after her interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2014 circulated once again, causing a storm of criticism.
“So you don’t want to be labeled gay?” Winfrey asked during the aged interview.
Raven-Symoné replied, “I don’t want to be labeled gay.”
She continued, “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 reflected on the feedback she received after the interview in her latest podcast episode.
“I felt like the entire internet exploded and threw my name in the garbage,” Raven-Symoné expressed. She felt misunderstood, emphasizing, “I’m an American, not an African American.”
Despite her efforts to clarify, the misinterpretation persists, causing ongoing controversy. “A lot of people thought I said that I wasn’t Black. And I never said that,” she reiterated. Raven-Symoné’s intention remains clear: to assert her identity beyond narrow labels.