On Friday, Oct. 9, Raven-Symoné made headlines after declaring that she wouldn’t hire someone with a “ghetto” name. “I’m not about to hire you if your name is Watermelondrea. It’s just not going to happen. I’m not going to hire you,” she said on “The View.” Only, it just so happens that there is an actual Watermelondrea — a YouTube personality portrayed by Tré Melvin — who wasn’t quite pleased with Symoné’s comments. She along with fans of the show unleashed a series of rapid-fire tweets criticizing Symoné.
— Watermelondrea Jones (@WatermelondreaJ) October 8, 2015
lookin like a pheonix talking bout she ain’t gon hire me. out here lookin like a low battery. charge ur weave sis pic.twitter.com/b2mXi9Z4PN — Watermelondrea Jones (@WatermelondreaJ) October 8, 2015
But it didn’t stop there. More users chimed in, slamming Symoné for slamming the history behind many ethnic names. After all, as one user put it, she is “named after a bird.”
How do you, a Black person w/ an ethnic name, justify proudly endorsing discriminatory hiring practices on a nat’l platform, @ravensymone?
— Ron. (@RonnieSnark) October 9, 2015
Lol. Raven-Symoné totally missed the irony in her point about hood names — W.E.B.B.I.E DuBois (@fivefifths) October 9, 2015
.@ravensymone thinks job discrimination is hilarious. Here’s a map of the states that can fire her for being queer: https://t.co/5huZoSw4hf
— Nessa. (@curlyheadRED) October 9, 2015
Many user also brought up the fact that this exact subject was a topic of an “That’s So Raven” episode titles “True Colors,” (February 4, 2005), in which Symoné’s character Raven and her friend Chelsea both applied for the same position. And while Raven nailed the interview, Chelsea, who bombed it got the job because of her conservative name. A lesson that today, it appears the former child star has forgotten.
