Raven-Symone to Oprah: Im not an African American. Im an American
Former child star Raven-Symone has been doing the press rounds. I think she’s promoting her role as Iridessa in The Pirate Fairy (the movie where Hiddles voices Captain Hook). Raven mostly does voice work these days, but that says nothing of her on-camera abilities. She was very charismatic during her television era. Voice work is a great way to keep paychecks rolling in and still maintain a relatively low profile. Raven is all about avoiding the clichéd Hollywood trappings — she shaded La Lohan during her recent Oprah interview.
In another new clip from this same discussion, Raven tells Oprah that she doesn’t like being labeled as “gay.” She’s “a human who loves humans.” She also doesn’t consider herself African American. She’s tired of labels and is simply American. Oprah nearly fell out of her seat: “Oh, girl. Don’t set up Twitter on fire…Oh, my lord. What did you just say?” Here’s how it went down:
On privacy: “People in my family, they’ve taught me to keep my personal life to myself as much as possible. So, I try my best to hold the fence where I can. But I am proud to be who I am and what I am.”
When she realized she was gay & shunning the label: “I knew when I was, like, 12. I was looking at everything. I don’t want to be labeled ‘gay.’ I want to be labeled ‘a human who loves humans.'”
She’s not into any label at all: “I’m tired of being labeled. I’m an American. I’m not an African American; I’m an American.”
Her response to Oprah’s shock: “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. I don’t label myself. 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.”
She’s “a melting pot in one body”: “Aren’t we all? Isn’t that what America’s supposed to be?”
[From E! Online]
Raven has to know that her statements will create an uproar. Oprah even warns her of the backlash. I feel uncomfortable hearing anyone use the “colorless” in conversation. Raven’s performing a whole lot of verbal gymnastics here to convince herself.
Screencaps courtesy of OWN & YouTube; photos courtesy of WENN
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLHLnpmirJOdxm%2BvzqZmbHFgbYFze9GarZ6mXajGrrvNnpatp4%2BkvbOtx5igppeepMGgrc2YmJ%2BqmZiur6vAppyroZOWu6C1zJiYp5eRorKztcKapWg%3D