Raven-Symoné has ignited a debate after resurfaced comments questioning why her “That’s So Raven” character “felt Black” to viewers.
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Raven-Symoné’s comments about her character on the hit Disney Channel series “That’s So Raven” are catching backlash.
On the actress’ podcast “Tea Time” with wife Miranda Pearman-Maday, in a resurfaced April episode with guest Kalen Allen, the former child star questioned the fixation on her groundbreaking character’s Blackness.
“I love my Blackness. But my Blackness can look so many different ways,” Raven, 40, said on the episode. The comment prompted Allen to comment, “But you were also set up, ’cause Raven Baxter was so … Black.”
“Was she Black?” the podcast host asked, to which Allen responded, “She felt Black as hell to me!”
Raven appeared to question the notion, asking, “Why did she feel Black to you?” the comedian replied, “”Because it was the first time that I had seen this Black family.”
“So, you saw color. Take away the color, make them green. And hear the words. What color are they?” Raven said, with Pearman-Maday agreeing and pointing out some of the people who “wrote” the character were white.
“I think that’s why that show and the good shows matter because it is universal,” Raven said. “Thank God it was Black facing, so you see people of color and we [had] the representation. But I think that was what was so beautiful about ‘That’s So Raven’ … Her best friend was white, her other one was Black.”
Fans enter ‘That’s So Raven’ race debate
Fans on social media who came across the exchange have pointed out how the characters and storylines leaning into Black culture and issues.
“I already tweeted this, but I’ll repeat — the Baxters were undeniably Black!” one X user wrote. “Tonya had locs. Raven wore braids. Victor talked about soul food. Cory had a whole episode about writing a paper for Black history. Della Reese was a jazz singer. They wouldn’t hire Raven [because] of racism!”
“Raven is crazy .. that’s so Raven is a show centered around a black child in a black family and nothing is wrong with that. Why is it so hard for Raven to accept that? Smh,” one YouTube user said. Another added, “From Tanya’s Hair, ‘Ya Nasty,’ ‘Home Skillet Biscuit, Raven being the first black lead, STYLE, the RACIST manager that chose Chelsey [sic] & not Raven. LETS NOT GO BACKWARDS.”
And in a viral reaction resharing the clip, an X user simply captioned it, “Girl …… no.”
Others came to the actress’ defense.
“Maybe i need to watch the whole interview cause what i got out of this clip is her implying that a mostly [white] male writers room created a character she feels was a mocking and stereotypical representation of a teenaged black girl and she didn’t enjoy being apart of it looking back,” one X user commented.
“Y’all are missing her point, Raven said race wasn’t ALL her character was,” another responded. “That doesn’t mean representation doesn’t matter, it means you shouldn’t reduce a black character to a stereotype of what ‘being/acting black’ is supposed to look like.”
The conversation resurfaced after an August episode of “Tea Time,” in which Pearman-Maday discussed online backlash she received on guest Keke Palmer’s podcast about not being aware of Raven’s cultural impact. Pearman-Maday clarified that, while she knew who Raven was growing up, she “wasn’t running home to sit down to tune in to ‘That’s So Raven.'”
Allen defended the conversation with Raven as the comments resurfaced, saying in a series of posts on Threads Sept. 1 and 2 that he believe Raven to be speaking about the origin of the character before she was attached.
“My understanding of what Raven was explaining was that the character, at conception, did not necessarily have to be any particular race,” he wrote. “But once Raven-Symoné became Raven Baxter, the show was built around HER. And the Raven Baxter we actually received was undeniably a Black girl. The show explicitly addressed anti-Black discrimination. Her mannerisms, comedy, music, references and cultural touchstones were influenced by the Black woman playing her.”
He also addressed criticism for why he didn’t debate Raven on the issue.
“We grow up with people on our televisions. Their characters help raise us. They make us feel represented. They become attached to memories, identities and periods of our lives,” he added. “Then we sometimes expect the actual human being who played that character to carry the same relationship to that work that we do. And they may not.”