Raven-Symoné took to Facebook to address the backlash she’s received since her Oprah Where Are They Now? episode aired.
If you missed it, Raven said she didn’t want to be labeled as ‘gay’ or ‘African-American’ — she’s just a person who loves humans and an American.
As you can imagine, the Internet lit up with negative criticism for the actress which prompted her to release a statement defending herself.
“I never said I wasn’t black… I want to make that very clear. I said, I am not African-American. I never expected my personal beliefs and comments to spark such emotion in people. I think it is only positive when we can openly discuss race and being labeled in America.”
Not many people got the statement, so Raven wrote an open letter on Facebook addressing the harsh and disrespectful comments.
She wrote:
I don’t take offense to those that are mad at my personal opinion of myself. Like before, I’m glad there are conversations happening. Our generation tends to stay comfortable ,at times, with issues and topics that need to be addressed.
QUESTION: If we are taught not to repeat history by learning it. Why do we continue to repeat? We must not be learning it correctly.
What does irritate me is the bulling tone towards myself and other opinions in the blog. Keep your disrespectful, mean, hurtful, words in a diary for yourself. Personal attacking is not needed, and no matter what race, nationality, culture, or womb you came out of; strive for respect. Strive to be virtuous, so the conversation can lead to great things, other things.
Our ancestors of all races had the courage to stand up for what they believed in no matter what the fight. Back then I hope the motto wasn’t…”the more haters the better”
We have reached a standstill in our progression as Humans. Let’s have a floor of RESPECT, KINDNESS, OPENMINDED-nESS. Showing your disagreement with my personal comments by using language you were not allowed to use as a child is just.
My momma reads this, and so do others. #bully
We agree with Raven. It’s perfectly okay to disagree, but it should never be okay to berate, threaten, or disrespect another individual over a dissenting opinion.
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