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\"When that aired, I felt like the entire internet exploded and threw my name in the garbage,\" the former Disney Channel star said. \"There was so much backlash from my community and others that misunderstood -- slash didn't hear the exact words that I said. And the exact words that I said is that, 'I'm an American, not an African American.'\"

\"A lot of people on the internet thought I said that I wasn't Black, and I never said that. There's a difference between being Black and African,\" she said.

When Maday asked her to clarify what she meant, she continued, \"When I say that African American does not align with me, that label, it doesn't mean that I'm negating my Blackness or I'm not Black.\"

\"It means I am from this country, I was born here, my mom, my dad, my great-great-great-great-great — and that's what I'm saying. The pure logistics of it,\" she explained.

Raven-Symoné also addressed critics who questioned her knowledge about her ancestry.

\"I understand my history. I understand where my ancestors come from,\" she said. \"I also understand how much blood, sweat, and tears they soaked into this earth in order to create the America that I live in today — free, happy, tax-paying American citizen.\"

To further justify the comment, she added, \"When I am in another country, they don't say, 'hey look at that African American over there,' they say, 'that's an American,' plain and simple.\"

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