– Tray Styles from Boyz In The Hood
lol
So by now, many have watched the clip of one of my beloved favorite actresses from my childhood, Raven Symone, discuss how she doesn’t want to be labeled in a sit-down interview with Oprah.
I saw the clip up and down my Facebook timeline and at first decided to keep my views to myself. However, after I read this article by Leslie Robinson on TeaBreakfast.com, I felt the urge to agree with her.
http://www.teabreakfast.com/raven-symone-blackness-cant-silenced/
The following is a comment I left after sharing the above article and I am responding to a former classmate from undergrad. I gave my opinion of the label “African American / Black/ Black American” and how I ultimately feel about the situation.
Identifying as African American:
Some people are have stronger ties to Africa, i.e. are first or second generation Africans, some of us have Caribbean ties, others are black with Latino ties, but we are all members of the African diaspora living here in America. Granted, I was not born in Africa, but it is quite apparent that African blood was born in me and runs through my veins. Furthermore, I know that some of my roots go back to Nigeria. I would love to thoroughly find out everything though. So I do accept the label of “black american”.
Labeling/ Categorizing:
It is human nature to want to categorize people. It is normal to want to know more about a person in reference to their sex, gender, race, nationality, religious views, and cultural ties etc. You can scream “don’t label me” all day but honestly people are going to do so anyway. And when people see Raven, they see someone who definitely has black blood in them. Just like when the police saw Mike Brown they saw a black teen, but that’s another tangent. And historically America used the “one drop” rule so Raven would traditionally be identified as black. I agree with the article when it says being black isn’t just about the physical features, it’s about the history and similar experience we share here in America.
“I don’t see color…”
This leads me to the phrase I loathe, “I don’t see color.” Others can enjoy the privilege of choosing not to recognize me as black, but this black on me is a permanent part of me. So when people say that, they dismiss a huge part of who I am. I am not for ignoring race and culture as a way to end racism. I think education and acceptance of differences is a much better approach to heal America.
I love being black.
And in case one cannot not tell, I love the melanin in my skin and the kink of my hair. I love the rich past and heritage of my ancestors. We are standing on the shoulders of greatness and giants, and contrary to what the media will have many of us believe, I am in the company of talented and brilliant people that look like me. I would never want to disassociate myself from that.
Victoria Renee 