Raven-Symoné's Non-Apology Reveals Her Own Identity Issues

Her latest comments are indicative of personal struggles, but they're damaging to all.
Andrew Toth via Getty Images

We seem to have entered into a weird, exhausting merry-go-round with Raven-Symoné. The actress and "View" co-host will say something inflammatory about race, get heavily criticized for it, and days later issue something vaguely resembling an apology. We'll roll our eyes, and brace ourselves for the next ridiculous comment. Rinse, wash, repeat.

But after this latest on-air gaff, where the former "Cheetah Girls" star claimed that she would never hire someone with a "black"-sounding name, it's time that we end the cycle, stop with the shock and outrage, and accept the fact that Raven-Symoné is officially a lost cause.

The actress isn't, of course, the first black celeb to say something publicly that perpetuates white-supremacist ideas about blackness. She is part of what has been referred to as the "New Black" class of black celebs: people like Pharrell Williams, Don Lemon, and SZA who have at one point or other embraced color-blindness, rejected labels of blackness, or bought into racist ideas about black people.

Raven-Symoné has perfected the New Black stance. Over the last two years, she has had countless foot-in-mouth moments. There was, of course, her 2014 interview with Oprah, when she declared that she does not consider herself African-American. "I have a nice, interesting grade of hair," she explained at one point, going on to add that she connects with Asian, black, white, and Native American cultures. Most of the actress's most unfortunate moments have come out of comments she's made as a co-host on "The View." Her worst, and most publicized moments thus far have been agreeing that the First Lady Michelle Obama looks like a monkey, and now, most recently, her name discrimination comments.

On Sunday (Oct. 11) she issued a statement via Facebook clarifying her comments about discrimination and not quite apologizing, but conceding, "I should not be part of the problem, I should be part of the solution." The full statement reads:

My comments about discrimination have spun out of control. I'd like to begin by saying that I was not attacking a...

Posted by Raven-Symoné on Sunday, October 11, 2015

What Symoné's statement reveals is that, while on a certain level she realizes what she said said was wrong, she isn't exactly apologetic about it. She claims her comment was not racially charged, admits she herself has been discriminated against, then assures us that she has never discriminated against potential employees in the past. But at no point in the statement does she actually use the words "I'm sorry." It's a subtle but important distinction, and it calls into question how much of the statement is actual contrition and how much of it is pure damage control.

How many chances does Raven-Symoné actually deserve? Her clear internalized-racism is obviously not solely of her own creation, but a result of trying to succeed in a business that, even she admits, has discriminated against her. When she says awful things like, "I’m not about to hire you if your name is Watermelondrea," or "I have a nice... grade of hair," it's stemming from very personal issues of identity.

But she's proven that, time and time again, she's largely using her platform on "The View" to perpetuate harmful and unhealthy ideas about blackness. Sure, on one level, she's starting a "conversation." But is she starting the right one? The conversations she's sparked are ultimately exhausting, because we know the outcome is that she'll just be back next week to say something else unfortunate. Symoné has made many amazing strides in her career, and even broken down some barriers, but ultimately, she's a too stubborn and too clueless to ever truly "be part of the solution."

She's giving a sad new meaning to "that's so Raven."

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