|
Ricky Martin Vows To Stamp Out Arab Stereotypes
26 July 2005
Puerto Rican pop hunk Ricky Martin has vowed to make an effort to change the negative perception of Arabs in the Western world. As part of his trip to Jordan - his first ever visit to the Middle East - Martin met with a group of teenagers who expressed concern about being labelled "terrorists" by other cultures. The singer assured them at the conference yesterday, "I promise I will become a spokesperson, if you allow me to, a spokesperson on your behalf. I will defend you and try to get rid of any stereotypes. I have been a victim of stereotypes. I come from Latin America and to some countries, we are considered 'losers', drug traffickers, and that is not fair because that is generalizing. Those comments are made out of ignorance and we have to sometimes ignore the ignorant, but we also have to educate the ignorant. You have me here as a friend." Martin, who is a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) goodwill ambassador, also announced plans to do a concert tour of the Middle East and North Africa, tentatively scheduled for May.
Source: WENN
|
