The View’s Raven-Symone has apologized for saying she would discriminate against people with “ghetto” names if she were an employer.
During a conversation last week about a UCLA study chronicling racial bias for people with stereotypical, black-sounding names, the former child star sparked outrage when she said she would not consider a person for employment if they had a name like “Watermelondrea.”
“Just to bring it back, can we take back ‘racist’ and say ‘discriminatory,’ because I think that’s a better word,” Symone said on the show. “And I am very discriminatory against words like the ones that they were saying in those names…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.”
After social media users called out the former Disney star for her remarks, she issued an apology on Facebook, and said she would not discriminate against people for having stereotypical, black-sounding names.
“My comments about discrimination have spun out of control. I’d like to begin by saying that I was not attacking a specific race, but repeating a name that was said in a viral video which has received over 2 million likes,” Symone wrote.
She added:
I have been denied many jobs because of my skin color, body size, and age.
Each time I was rejected, my self esteem was negatively affected, so i empathize with those who feel victimized by what I said.
But I should not be part of the problem, I should be part of the solution.
“As an equal opportunity employer, I have never discriminated against a name…even though I said I would, it’s not true…My comment was in poor taste. My lack of empathy towards name discrimination was uncalled for,” concluded the 29-year-old.
Check out the viral video that inspired Symone’s original remarks: