Entertainment tycoon Raven-Symone was criticized harshly when she dared to give her opinion on the term ‘African-American,’ which was popularized by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other black leaders in the late 1980s.
“I’m tired of being labeled. I’m an American. I’m not an African-American. I’m an American,” said Raven-Symone during a sit-down interview with television Guru Oprah Winfrey.
Raven-Symone should have been applauded for her self-effacing honesty in dismissing a term that was never popular with black people who were born before the 1980s.
The Disney star was slammed by Black Twitter — a collective of hostile opinionated black millennials on social media.
The 28-year-old Atlanta native responded to the criticism in an email to The Grio.
“I never said I wasn’t black,” she wrote. “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.”
During her interview with Oprah, Raven-Symone, who is a gold star lesbian, also said she wasn’t in favor of being labeled gay.
“I don’t want to be labeled ‘gay,'” she said. “I want to be labeled ‘a human who loves humans.’”
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