Raven-Symonรฉ is getting candid about her identity.
During an appearance on “The Jason Lee Show,” Raven-Symonรฉย talked about the past comments she made to Oprah Winfrey in 2014 when she told her that she doesn’t identify as an African American. Instead, Raven-Symonรฉ said she’s simply โan American.”
At the time, the “That’s So Raven” star received quite a bit of backlash online for her comments about her race. Now, in her interview with Lee, she is once again addressing it and clarifying what she meant.
“I am not an African American. I’m an American. I am a Black American. I am definitely Black. And yes, my ancestors come from Africa,” she said.
“How long does a bloodline have to live in one land before they are considered a pure species of that land? Meaning, how long did my people have to be in America to say, ‘Hey, no, we’re American,” compared to some people who are English American, who are Irish American, who are German American from their ancestors, but they get to call themselves American,” Raven-Symonรฉ continued.
The “Cheetah Girls” singer explained that there is “nothing wrong” with someone identifying as African American, “but a true African American is someone that is from Africa and moved here, either first generation or second generation, and has a tie to that country that I do not have.”
She also noted that her family has been in America for quite some time and were part of the “first census in Virginia that allowed for Black people to have a name.”
“I think there comes a point where, when you build a country, when you fight for freedom, make money and pay taxes and generationally live in a country, you have the privilege to call yourself pure American,” she added.
On Instagram, people said they agreed with Raven-Symonรฉ and they loved they way she explained herself.
“You know what…I, too must eat my words because that really rubbed me the wrong way when she said it back then but hearing the ENTIRE perspective made me agree with her,” one person commented.
Another said, “Didnโt agree with her back then, COMPLETELY AGREE with her now. She was ahead of her time!”
A third added, “Sheโs right, once your 4+ generations deep in America you do have more ties to America vs Africa, but I do remember looking sideways when she first made that statement ๐๐ .”
Meanwhile a fourth commented, “Africans call us Black American. They themselves donโt even consider us African any longer either lol. Just Black American lol.”
In April 2024, Raven-Symonรฉ also spoke about those comments she made to Winfrey on her and her wife’s podcast, โTea Time With Raven & Miranda.”
There, Raven-Symonรฉ said that she immediately felt “judged” when she saw all the backlash that she was getting from the public back then. She also said her mom thought that Winfrey had set her up for that response because the mogul had reacted to her comments right away, instead of letting her finish her thoughts in the interview.
The “Dr. Dolittle 2″ star said that she felt like she had โsaid something thatโs bad” when she walked off stage, “which contradicts who I am as a human.โ
Though she doesn’t think that Winfrey set her up, she did say she thought that Winfrey shined a light on her remarks so that people could “scrutinize more.โ
Not to mention, Raven-Symonรฉ, who also identifies as a “human who loves humans,” said that interview was supposed to be her coming out interview, but it instead became a conversation about labels, even though she said she was โtired of being labeled.โ
โI said, โDonโt label meโ and it turned into that instead of my coming out,โ she said.
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