FAIL = Justin Bieber - tells world he is Aboriginal ...and as such they all — get free gas in Canada -
Justin Bieber can hit the high notes and make a gaggle of screaming girls swoon, but the Canadian-born singer seems to know very little about First Nations heritage.
After the 18-year-old pop star told Rolling Stone magazine that Aboriginal peoples — from whom he claims he is descended — get free gas in Canada, a national group has corrected his misconception and offered to help him trace his ancestry.
“Mr. Bieber’s comment that Aboriginal people are entitled to free gas is simply not true,” said Betty Ann Lavallée, national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, in a statement.
“These kinds of remarks are another example of what Aboriginal peoples in Canada struggle with every day. It promotes the misconception that we are somehow getting a free ride. This simply is not the case and we are concerned that many people may believe what he said.”
Bieber, who was born in Stratford, Ont., appears on the cover of the August issue of Rolling Stone. Inside, he claims his Aboriginal heritage means he can fill up his car’s tank for free.
“I’m actually part Indian,” he tells the magazine. “I think Inuit or something. I’m enough percent that in Canada I can get free gas.”
The comment prompted mockery and outrage online over the singer’s ignorance of Aboriginal rights and ways of life in Canada. Some, including First Nations human rights activist Ellen Gabriel, called on Bieber to apologize for what he said.
Read more -
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/03/group-offers-justin-bieber-a-lesson-in-native-history-after-singers-free-gas-remarks/
Justin Bieber can hit the high notes and make a gaggle of screaming girls swoon, but the Canadian-born singer seems to know very little about First Nations heritage.
After the 18-year-old pop star told Rolling Stone magazine that Aboriginal peoples — from whom he claims he is descended — get free gas in Canada, a national group has corrected his misconception and offered to help him trace his ancestry.
“Mr. Bieber’s comment that Aboriginal people are entitled to free gas is simply not true,” said Betty Ann Lavallée, national chief of the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, in a statement.
“These kinds of remarks are another example of what Aboriginal peoples in Canada struggle with every day. It promotes the misconception that we are somehow getting a free ride. This simply is not the case and we are concerned that many people may believe what he said.”
Bieber, who was born in Stratford, Ont., appears on the cover of the August issue of Rolling Stone. Inside, he claims his Aboriginal heritage means he can fill up his car’s tank for free.
“I’m actually part Indian,” he tells the magazine. “I think Inuit or something. I’m enough percent that in Canada I can get free gas.”
The comment prompted mockery and outrage online over the singer’s ignorance of Aboriginal rights and ways of life in Canada. Some, including First Nations human rights activist Ellen Gabriel, called on Bieber to apologize for what he said.
Read more -
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/08/03/group-offers-justin-bieber-a-lesson-in-native-history-after-singers-free-gas-remarks/
