It’s been two years since Raven-Symoné left ABC’s “The View,” and during her brief time there some might say she became Black Twitter’s archenemy.
That’s because the actress often played the role of contrarian. Like when she defended a police officer who roughed up a female high school student. Or the time Symoné said she wouldn’t hire anybody with a long “Black” name.
And in 2014, the Disney Channel star told Oprah Winfrey that she wasn’t African-American, which also raised many an eyebrow. It’s something she discussed during a recent interview with Buzzfeed.
“It’s funny because people, I don’t know if they listened to the interview,” said Symoné. “I didn’t say I wasn’t Black. … My passport says American. I never said I wasn’t Black. Oh, trust me, I know I’m Black. There’s just a difference. There are many African-Americans, especially in 2018, that come over from Africa and come over here and need the green card — your first-generation African-American. That’s how I look at that title.”
“There are a lot of Black Americans here who have been here longer than the Americans that are a different color,” she added. “Why can’t we have just one name?”
The 32-year-old then talked about her time on “The View” and admitted she worded a lot of her opinions the wrong way. Symoné also said facing backlash during that time was very difficult for her.
“I should’ve worded it differently,” she said about her controversial comments. “I learned what I’m good at, and I learned what I’m not good at. And the things I said I’m personally not going to rehash, because I’ve learned my lesson, I’ve moved forward. It was a challenging moment in my career, and I’ve learned a lot.”
You can see the interview below.
Full interview: @ravensymone joins #AM2DM to talk the #RavensHome musical episode, her thoughts on race, and more pic.twitter.com/TcruJUayaE
— AM2DM by BuzzFeed News (@AM2DM) October 11, 2018
