Actress Raven-Symone “Schools” Oprah on Race Labels
Raven-Symone, an actress and singer best known for her roles on “The Cosby Show” and “That’s So Raven”, does not want to be labeled by the color of her skin.
In a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, Raven talked about not wanting to be labeled as being “gay”. Raven has tweeted about her same sex relationship, although she desires to keep her personal relationship private.
Raven explained her dislike of labels: “I’m tired of being labeled. I’m an American. I’m not an African-American; I’m an American,”
Oprah responded with shock, “Oh, girl, don’t set up Twitter on fire. Oh, my lord. What did you just say? Stop! Stop!”
“I mean, I don’t know where my roots go to. I don’t know how far back they go…I don’t know what country in Africa I’m from, but I do know that my roots are in Louisiana. I’m an American. And that’s a colorless person,” Raven commented.
Winfrey still questioned Raven’s comments and warned the actress she would most likely “get a lot of flak” for saying she is not African-American. “I want you to say what you really mean by that,” Oprah persisted.
“What I really mean by that is I’m an American. That’s what I really mean,” Raven stated. “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.”
Raven expressed she is what America is- “A Melting Pot”. Oprah agreed that was what the country was “supposed to be” with emphasis on the word “supposed”.
Perhaps, Oprah should take some notes from this young American who is expressing a truth many Americans adhere to. Race labels divide and many people see beyond the label of color. The ironic part is that the first flak response this actress received was from Oprah herself.
Now if only Raven-Symone would understand that the “gay” label is being used to separate and divide those regarding the issue of marriage but that’s another article…
Watch a video clip of the interview here:
