Raven-Symoné is still "haunted" over comments she made a decade ago about not wanting to be labelled.
Raven-Symoné has stood by the viral comments she made over a decade ago
The 38-year-old actress caused a social media storm in 2014 when she told Oprah Winfrey shortly after coming out as gay that she "didn't want to be labelled" over her sexuality or race and admitted that the controversy "still haunts" her to this day but insisted that she still thinks of herself as simply an American.
Speaking in a video posted to YouTube, she said: "I want to talk about something that has haunted me since 2014. Now, when that aired, I felt like the entire internet exploded and threw my name in the garbage. There was so much backlash from my community and others.
"They misunderstood or didn't hear the exact words that I said. And the exact words that I said is that I'm an American, not an African American. I'm an American. A lot of people on the internet thought I said that I wasn't black. And I never said that.
"There's a difference between black and African. When I say that African American does not align with me that label, it doesn't mean that I'm negating my blackness, or I'm not black, it means I am from this country. I was born here, my mom, my dad, my great, great, great, great, great.
"And that's what I'm saying the pure logistics of it. I understand my history, I understand where my ancestors come from, I also understand how much blood sweat and tears, they've soaked into this earth in order to create the America that I live in today. free, happy, taxpaying American citizen. I also know that out when I'm in another country, they don't say,
"Hey, look at that African American over there. They say that's an American, plain and simple."
The former 'That's So Raven' star recalled feeling "attacked and judged" following her interview on Oprah's talk show and remembered walking off set initially worried about what she had said but them reminded herself that she had only spoken something that was "true" to her own self.
She said: "In 2014, I felt attacked, I felt judged and not heard. But I also in the quiet of my own home, knew that there were other people in my position that have spoken out about it.
"I am an American, I am not first or second generation African American stop mislabeling us now it feels like society has grown. There are more people that understand the root of what I'm talking about. And I think that the younger generation is starting to break down those barriers and labeling.
"The feeling that I felt when I walked off that stage was I think this is about to be a big ordeal. I think I said something that's bad, which contradicts who I am as a human and [my mom] will attest like, I don't speak unless what I'm about to say is truth. Or I'm gonna double down on it. And in my head. I was like, Okay, listen, you didn't say anything wrong. I said something that was true to me."
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