Raven-Symoné Addresses Critics After Telling Oprah Winfrey She Doesn’t Want To Be Labeled African-American: ‘I Never Said I Wasn’t Black’

Raven-Symoné got hit with a wave of backlash after her recent interview with Oprah Winfrey on the OWN series "Where Are They Now?" which aired on Oct. 4. The former child star, who rose to fame on "The Cosby Show," set Twitter ablaze when she admitted that she doesn't want to be labeled African-American.

Symoné has now addressed her critics, explaining what she meant by her comments.

"I never said I wasn't black... I want to make that very clear. I said, I am not African-American," Symoné said in a statement published on The Grio. "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."

In the interview with Winfrey, Symoné landed on the topic of identity and labels after being asked about her sexuality.

"I'm tired of being labeled. I'm an American. I'm not an African-American, I'm an American."

"Oh, girl," responded Winfrey. "Don't set up Twitter on fire...Oh, my lord. What did you just say?"

Symoné replied, "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."

Winfrey predicted that Symoné would "get a lot of flak" for saying that she's not African-American.

To that, the "That's so Raven" actress said, "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."