Raven Symoné Doubles Down on The Oprah Winfrey Interview About Being Labeled African American

[OperationNumbNutts]

Whatever. I'll still smash.

 

[BangBike]

 

[987654321]

The fact she's 38 now, goddamn. Time is a mf

She still looks good. My longstanding offer of #rawnoregret on the back porch, while Orlando Brown’s “coming to America” plays on the clock radio, is still open to her, after all these years.

 

[ReturnOfJudah]

Just say you a Israelite

 

[Jean Jacket]

Did I say anything about culture???

No.

If the Nigerian, Black American, Afro-Latino and Afro-Portuguese all walk down the street, they'll be viewed the same way until they open their mouths and speak.

Black American will stand out to me the most. We just walk different. We all have different head shapes, bone structures, gaits and even eyes have distinctive colors.

I can tell. Most Black people can tell. It's some uncanny valley shyt.

cacs...maybe you have a point.

You can't mix up a damn Somalian though.

 

[Lonj]

Yeah she tried to say that she wasn't trying to throw her blackness away but here's the original quote

https://www.cnn.com/2014/10/06/showbiz/raven-symone-gay-labels/index.html

"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, because we’re all people. I have lots of things running through my veins.”


It'd be better if she just said her idea was still underdeveloped and she went too far calling herself colorless. I'm glad she's embracing her ethnicity more in her later age tho. I'd imagine her evolved idea of herself would have went over better in 2014

Pharell made similar comments around the same time, he called it "new black".

 

[ReasonableMatic]

I used to hate the term African American. I had zero ties to Africa, didn’t know a thing about my history and just felt more aligned with labeling myself Black American. These days I claim African American to tie myself with the diaspora in solidarity but I understand the mindset.

That’s a great understanding.

It’s really about acknowledging being part of the African Diaspora for me.

Afro/African-*insert country* is the indicator to signify Africa as the place where we were violently taken from, and the location where our ethnicity was birthed as descendants of enslaved Africans during the Trans-Atlantic Slavetrade in the Americas.

This applies to America, The Caribbean and Latin-America.

It signifies a shared ancestry within the African Diaspora, and I believe that to be very meaningful and beautiful.

I have never seen it as an erasure of where anyone landed in the Americas.

This term is used everywhere.
Especially academically to signify that they’re talking about the Afro-descendants of Ancestors were enslaved in that specific country, opposed to another ethnic groups.

That’s why it’s so important to read about ourselves, so we see how its the norm to use Afro/African-*insert country* to label an ethnic group that descents from enslaved Africans.

 

[Jazzy B.]

Same goes for Afro-Latinidad

What does this prove?

Jamaicans don’t call themselves “African” or "African Jamaicans".

Nobody calls Jamaicans "African Jamaicans"

They are simply "Jamaicans"

The same with the rest of the caribbeans and whatever country they come from.

So why can't Black Americans who have descended from slavery just be called "Black Americans" or "Americans"?

 

[HiphopRelated]

What does this prove?

Jamaicans don’t call themselves “African” or "African Jamaicans".

Nobody calls Jamaicans "African Jamaicans"

They are simply "Jamaicans"

The same with the rest of the caribbeans and whatever country they come from.

So why can't Black Americans who have descended from slavery just be called "Black Americans" or "Americans"?

That depends, in countries like Guyana and Trinidad with large Indian populations, the delineation is noted. As opposed to countries with predominant black populations

 

[ThatTruth777]

Yall still fighting against us being our own ethnic group? The fukk is wrong with yall man

 

[ReasonableMatic]

That depends, in countries like Guyana and Trinidad with large Indian populations, the delineation is noted. As opposed to countries with predominant black populations

Exactly.

This is common sense to people that actually know about the Diaspora and interact with them

In Jamaica and Haiti etc the population is like 90+% African descent,
they don’t need to specify.

But their minorities do, and they do accordingly

 

[Topps]

Nope...and we barely had any light skin people.

And your response suggests I struck a nerve.

Are you uncomfortable being called "African American?"

African
African
African
African

Say it with me:

"I am AfriCAN, I am smart and I am worthy."

Breathe deep, drink a glass of water and touch grass.

This is an African-American. That's how goofy the term created by Jesse Jackson.

 

[Peter Popoff]

Whatever the fụck she is, her and her partner can get this .

 

[Jazzy B.]

That depends, in countries like Guyana and Trinidad with large Indian populations, the delineation is noted. As opposed to countries with predominant black populations

No black Guyanese is leading with "I'm African Guyanese" or "African Trinidadian" if you ask them where they're from.

It's "I'm Guyanese" or "I'm Trini"/"from Trinidad"

 

[Buddy]

This is an African-American. That's how goofy the term created by Jesse Jackson.

These are all "White" Americans and somehow yall never had an issue with it. A couple Black folks come and all of a sudden yall are in shambles from identity crisis

South African:

Italian:

French:

English:

Russian:

German:

Australian:

Greek:

Polish:

I mean... need I go on??? A lot of brehs need to take a step back and reevaluate whatever the hell was missing in their upbringing. Them acronyms ain't gon do it