Raven-Symone proved last year when she announced that she doesn’t want to be called African American that she has little concern about going with the grain in the Black community. And “The View” co-host further proved that point yesterday when she criticized the powerful civil rights slogan “Black Lives Matter” and claimed that it needs to be changed to be more inclusive.
During yesterday’s episode of “The View,” Raven discussed Democratic presidential hopeful Martin O’Malley’s recent comments at a rally this weekend about police violence against Black people, in which he claimed that “Black Lives Matter” should be changed to “All Lives Matter.”
As expected, many at the rally were outraged and booed O’Malley for his inappropriate and unsympathetic stance. O’Malley apologized for his statement, but Raven decided to defend O’Malley, despite the backlash.
“I understand what the ‘Black Lives Matter’ hashtag means. It came in conjunction with everything that was going on with the police in Ferguson. You have to be sensitive in that statement, but he is right, all lives matter … I think you have to open yourself up. It should be all lives matter,” she said.
Ironically, it was Raven’s White co-host, comedian Michelle Collins, who succinctly explained why both O’Malley and Raven were mistaken in disregarding the importance of “Black Lives Matter” in today’s fiery racial climate.
“Why reappropriate something that was really such a powerful thing for the Black community, something that meant so much and still means so much?” she said. “It’s such a positive thing. Why make that about everybody? It’s not about everybody.”
Sadly, Raven continued to disagree about the slogan, and, once again, met the ire and distrust of Black fans across the nation.
At this point, we’re just not surprised at anything Raven has to say about the Black experience in this country. But it is sad that she can’t seem to see that the Black community and our allies screaming to the world (and ourselves) that “Black Lives Matter” in the face of violent racism isn’t about devaluing the lives of others (because it’s clear that the lives of fairer skin people matter); it’s about making sure that the rest of the world finally believes and embraces the fact that our lives matter just as much as everybody else’s.
