Words as we all know, are powerful. It’s supposed to be that way for obvious reasons.
But sometimes words might not convey the full message or they skew the message. It appears a recent example of that is a Raven-Symoné comment on last weekend’s “Oprah: Where Are They Now.”
Raven-Symoné, 28, got tongues wagging and jaws dropping when she told Oprah that she’s “tired of being labeled,” and more specifically she does not wish to be categorized as “an African-American.”
“I’m tired of being labeled,” Symoné said. “I’m an American. I’m not an African-American. I’m an American.”
Realizing how it sounded, Symoné then clarified her comment saying:
“What I really mean by that is I’m an American. That’s what I really mean. I have darker skin. I have a nice, interesting grade of hair. I connect with Caucasian. I connect with Asian. I connect with Black. I connect with Indian. I connect with each culture.”
Sorry Raven, fail!
You see, the damage was already done. Ms. Symoné got serious blowback from the public and decided to issue a statement to theGrio to address the criticism and make it understood that at the end of the day she knows she’s still “”black” in America.
“I never said I wasn’t black… I want to make that very clear. I said, I am not African-American. I never expected my personal beliefs and comments to spark such emotion in people. I think it is only positive when we can openly discuss race and being labeled in America.”
Now that’s so Raven!
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