Raven-Symoné slams worried critics as she has declared she is not African-American. Mom thinks Oprah set her up

Former child star Raven Symoné has finally addressed previous comments she made about not identifying as African-American.

Symoné used a podcast she shares with her wife Miranda to clarify that when she sat down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey a decade ago, her intention was not to distance herself from her black heritage by identifying as an American. On the contrary, she emphasized that she wanted people to stop putting her in a box and just let her exist.

The Cosby Show alum explained that her mother was upset and thought the 38-year-old can be drawn into criticism.

According to Symoné, Bill Maher recently quoted an interview on his show to prove that several black stars are moving away from racist frames.

“I’m commenting on something I said to Oprah in 2014,” she said on “The Greatest Podcast Ever with Raven and Miranda,” trying to present context to the comments.

He then cuts to a clip where he says, “I don’t want to be considered gay. I want to be called a man who loves people. I’m tired of being labeled. I am an American, not an African American.”

In one other a part of this interview, she also said, “I am a colorless person,” which many took as a denial of the claim that she was melaninated or black.

Oprah immediately responded and said, “Oh, girl,” and mumbled something concerning the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“Now that it’s aired, I felt like the entire internet had exploded and thrown my name into the garbage. “My community and others reacted so violently that the misunderstood slash didn’t hear the exact words I said,” recalls the “That’s So Raven” star. She added: “The exact words I said were that I was an American, not an African American.”

Symoné’s reason for making this distinction is that no one in her direct lineage is from Africa and that she is clear about the validity of having to consider this country as her own.

She explained, “When I say African American doesn’t fit me…that label…it doesn’t mean I’m denying my blackness or that I’m not black. It means I come from this country. I was born here … My mother, my dad, my pra-pra-streake-streak-pra-pra-pra-pra-pradziadek).

Adding: “I understand my history. I understand where my ancestors come from. I also understand how much blood, sweat and tears they put into this land to create the America I live in today.

When the pair talked about the public ridicule Symoné faced, Miranda asked her if she felt like Oprah had framed her, stopping that thought and replying, “You’re going to get a lot of hate for what you say. Symoné said that while she doesn’t think so, her mother, Lydia Gaulden, does.

“That’s what my mom thinks,” the previous “The View” talk show host said. “Mom thinks Oprah put me up to it.”

Symoné said that while she did not personally feel that Oprah framed her, she felt that the emphasis she placed on her statement reinforced his analysis, overshadowing her self-disclosure as a woman-loving woman on the same platform.

Interestingly, the Disney star has often doubled down on her comments and in 2018, she said: “My passport says American. I never said I wasn’t Black. Oh, trust me, I know I’m black. There is only a difference. There are many African Americans, especially in 2018, who came here from Africa and need a green card — you are first-generation African Americans. That’s how I look at this title.”

“There are a variety of Black Americans here who’ve been here longer than Americans of other colours,” the 38-year-old added. “Why can’t we just have one name?”

Symoné then admitted that she “should have worded it differently.”

The actor-turned-social media personality is not the just one selecting to discover solely as an American.

Model Devyn Abdullah does not claim to be black. ‘Nina Simone’ star Zoe Saldana said she doesn’t imagine there is “no such thing as people of color.”

Disgraced comedian Bill Cosby said that, like his TV granddaughter, he does not discover as African-American.

“We are not Africans,” he said, adding: “These people are not Africans; they know nothing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and so on, and they’re all in jail.

Most famously, golfer Tiger Woods told Oprah that he is not black.

The first African American to win the Masters said in 1997 that he considered himself a “Cablinasian” – a mix of white, black, Indian and Asian.

Later in that interview, he said that it bothered him that he was called an African American just because his mother was Asian.

The then-genius said that when he was asked to “check a box” on forms, he couldn’t “pick one,” but identified himself.

“I usually choose African American… Asian because those are the two homes I grew up in,” he said, noting he would not deny his mother or father’s heritage.

Regardless of what he calls himself, in 2017, when he was arrested by the police the authorities looked into him for DUI and placed on his arrest report what they and a lot of the world thought he was: Black.