Oprah Winfrey once requested her guest to 'not set Twitter on fire' with her answers: "Stop the tape..."
Oprah Winfrey cannot clearly agree with the new generation, the media mogul expressed amazement at former Disney child star Raven Symoné's opinions on race. In 2014 the 'That's So Raven' star sat down for an exclusive with Winfrey. During the interaction, Raven said, "I'm tired of being labeled I'm an American. I'm not an African-American. I'm an American." Winfrey looked visually uncomfortable with the bold statement and warned, "Oh girl don't set up the Twitter on fire. I'm sorry you mean what? Oh, my Lord! What did you just say? Stop! Stop! Stop the tape right now," she said.
Symoné continued to explain that she did not have any knowledge about her African ancestry and hence identified to her birth country, "I don't know where my roots go to. I don't know how far back they go. I can't go on you know. 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." However, Winfrey slammed her for not being proud of her black heritage. "You're going to get a lot of flack for saying you're not African-American you know that." But the 'Tinker Bell,' franchise actress maintained her stand and called herself a "melting pot of all cultures". "I have darker skin I have a nice interesting grade of hair. I connect with Caucasians. I connect with Asians. I connect with black. I connect with Indians. I connect with each culture," she said.
Surprisingly fans agreed with Symoné and criticized Winfrey for her hypocrisy, "Why is she going to get battered on Twitter Oprah ... because she doesn't agree with you? Good for you Raven!" a viewer commented under the viral YouTube video. "Oprah... nothing new...you're disgusting. Raven... you got a new fan. Respect to anyone that doesn't hyphenate their status as an "American," because if you have to do that, you're not," a fan agreed.
"African American wasn’t even a term before 1988," an X user pointed out facts. "Good for her, speaking her mind, having that courage, as she should be allowed to have without judgment! I love her hair too!" a netizen praised. "Oprah’s multiple shifts in her chair was pretty funny. You can always tell when someone is uncomfortable, no matter their level of experience," another fan agreed. "Based af. Great way to put it, Raven. We’re American. Division by skin color nowadays has only set us back as a country," an admirer lauded. "Oprah is a fake. I don’t care if she’s successful. She’s not someone to respect," a viewer slammed the veteran host.
@ENews good for her, speaking her mind, having that courage, as she should be allowed to have without judgement! I love her hair too!
— Sarah Bakes (@MsSarahBunker) October 7, 2014
As per Today, in April last year, the Disney alum clarified her stance again while appearing in a new episode of 'Tea Time With Raven & Miranda.' “I wanna talk about something that has haunted me since 2014,” she said in the podcast. “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." She added that she was merely expressing that she was an American citizen and wasn't disparaging her Black heritage.
She went on to say that she did not identify as African American, but that designation does not imply that she is not Black or rejects the black community. "It means I am from this country, I was born here, my mom, my dad," she concluded.
