Just a thought here..

[Josephine96]

No disrespect to the media or to anybody intended here..

By way do they keep referring to the people at the Superdome/Astrodome/Convention Center as "refugees"

This is not a 3rd world country. They are people. Every one of them is a person. Why can't they just say "so many thousand people" or "so many thousand survivors" or even "so many thousand victims"

Not refugees. In my opinion, it sounds so demeaning, so 3rd world..

{hops off soapbox}

[banshee]

I agree with you, I think they should be referred to as displaced residents, not refugees.

[Downdraft]

Political correctness? They ARE refugees.

[rhendryx]

They are seeking refuge. Refugee is an appropriate word to use.

[JQ Public]

But they aren't calling the folks in Mississippi refugees. But survivors and victims.

[baygirl_1]

But they aren't calling the folks in Mississippi refugees. But survivors and victims.

The Mississippians who have come over here to shelters are, indeed, being referred to as refugees.

[greeng13]

But they aren't calling the folks in Mississippi refugees. But survivors and victims.

actually i think they are...but that aside...these people live in a WHOLE CITY that is under water and is being evacuated. Those in MS are not still under water and their whole cities have not been evacuated---i'm not saying they are not suffering but...those in NO are being driven away from their land entirely as it is not just uninhabitable...it is essentially a set of islands (the superdome, etc.) so the fact that it is a mass transit of an ENITIRE CITY away from such city qualifies them to be REFUGEES.

Personally if i just finally got out of there I think i would be calling myself one!!!! and the fact that Al Sharpton is on the news saying that is racist/demeaning is absurd!

[inotherwords]

The Charley survivors I housed last year I called refugees.

The word means people seeking refuge.

Anyone ascribing third world or other meaning on this are not being realistic. It's probably because they are used to hearing this word being used to describe third world people, because most of the time that's who we're talking about in these big national disasters where hundreds of thousands are displaced, but it's still a valid word for people seeking refuge, wherever they are. I'd call myself a refugee if I was homelss.

Tempest in a teapot. I really don't understand the offense here. It's not demeaning, in fact I find it a very sympathetic and appropriate descriptor.

People seeking refuge, refuge = safe harbor. Nothing wrong with that, and certainly not racist.

[MBismyPlayground]

Main Entry: ref·u·gee
Pronunciation: "re-fyu-'jE
Function: noun
: an individual seeking refuge or asylum; especially : an individual who has left his or her native country and is unwilling or unable to return to it because of persecution or fear of persecution (as because of race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion)

Although these people may be seeking refuge, none of the rest applies to them. They are citizens of our country.
No wonder I hate the politcally correctness of some.

[inotherwords]

My dictionary says:

refugee
n : an exile who flees for safety

Sounds right to me. And I'm a writer by profession and very picky about words.

[jburns]

They are seeking refuge. Refugee is an appropriate word to use.

Interestingly enough the word might be inappropriate. all the definitions I have found require the crossing of an international border to be considered a refugee.

refugees

People who flee a nation, often to escape punishment for their political affiliations or for political dissent.
Legal Dictionary
ref·u·gee ('re-fyʊ-`jē)
n.

An individual seeking refuge or asylum; esp An individual who has left his or her native country and is unwilling or unable to return to it because of persecution or fear of persecution (as because of race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.


WordNet


The noun refugee has one meaning:

Meaning #1: an exile who flees for safety


Military
refugee

(DOD) A person who, by reason of real or imagined danger, has left their home country or country of their nationality and is unwilling or unable to return. See also dislocated civilian; displaced person; evacuee; expellee; stateless person.

Wikipedia
refugee


Under international law, a refugee is a person who is outside his/her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his/her race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution. They are subgroup of the broader category of displaced persons. They are distinguished from economic migrants who have voluntarily left their country of origin for economic reasons, and from internally displaced persons who have not crossed an international border.


I guess we have internally displaced persons. Catchy term isn't it.

[MBismyPlayground]

My dictionary says:

refugee
n : an exile who flees for safety

Sounds right to me. And I'm a writer by profession and very picky about words.

Right here on the internet..... http://www.dictionary.com

a picky writer????? Do not mean to disrespect you but....... again
ex·ile ( P ) Pronunciation Key (gzl, ksl)
n.

Enforced removal from one's native country.
Self-imposed absence from one's country.
The condition or a period of living away from one's native country.
One who lives away from one's native country, whether because of expulsion or voluntary absence.

[inotherwords]

Sorry, I still disagree with you. I don't find it to be a negative or disparaging term, even with regard to "exile." And yes, I am picky, which is why I'm very well paid and very busy.

Agree to disagree, and all that.

One who is employed: employee.
One who is seeking refuge: refugee.

Anything more than that is embellishment.

[jburns]

Sorry, I still disagree with you. I don't find it to be a negative or disparaging term, even with regard to "exile." And yes, I am picky, which is why I'm very well paid and very busy.

Agree to disagree, and all that.

I don't find it disrespectful either. However it may well be wrong.

[inotherwords]

Sorry, I still disagree with you. I don't find it to be a negative or disparaging term, even with regard to "exile." And yes, I am picky, which is why I'm very well paid and very busy.

Agree to disagree, and all that.

I don't find it disrespectful either. However it may well be wrong.

It's not wrong.

[jburns]

It's not wrong.

Agree to disagree.

[MBismyPlayground]

Well, it is my opinion that it is disrespectful. There are many stigma's attached to this word. There have been jokes in the past, that refer to refugees. If one does a search on the internet for the word, one would see, refugee camps, refugee travel documents,Amnesty International,resettlement in the US as a refugee,ect.......
Just a question, when Hurricane Andrew hit Fla., and when some of the residents moved to other places to relocate with family, were they called refugees???
Another queston for those of you who feel this is an appropriate term, and who will continue to use it. The people who have evacuated prior to, the ones who are not in homeless shelters, the ones who had money to go somewhere else, what will you call them??????
These people are survivors, IMO. They survived what may come to be known as the worst hurricane in US history. They were residents of Louisiana, a state that is part of the United States of America. They did not come from other countries, they don't have to have a VISA to travel nor did they have to get permission from the Department of Immigration.
SURVIVORS.

[inotherwords]

It's not wrong.

Agree to disagree.

Deal.

What's interesting about language is that it is not static, otherwise we'd still be talking in language that's found in the Canterbury Tales. Because we've come to associate a word with a particularly biased meaning that's been prevalent in the past 20 years does not mean that's the definitive definition, nor does that make the new definition wrong. It just means there's more than one way to look at things sometimes, and this is a perfect example.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if there are five definitions in a dictionary, the first one is always the preferred one, and there's no rule that says that all five definitions have to qualify.

One more thing: Wikipedia is a noble project, but it's written by amateur contributors from everywhere. A lot of bad info is published on Wikipedia, much of this gets deleted eventually by their editors, however I would caution anyone about using this as a definitive source of information.

[baygirl_1]

Well, apropriate or not, we've been called refugees each time we've evacuated to my sister's home upstate (which is now at a count of 3 times in the last year). That is what their friends and the people at their church have called us.

[inotherwords]

Well, it is my opinion that it is disrespectful. There are many stigma's attached to this word. There have been jokes in the past, that refer to refugees. If one does a search on the internet for the word, one would see, refugee camps, refugee travel documents,Amnesty International,resettlement in the US as a refugee,ect.......

I don't consider "refugee camp" as a negative. It's a camp for refugees, for displaced individuals. It's not the Ritz Carlton, it is what it is. A refugee camp is going to be rough. What's the stigma?

By the way, there is no apostrophe (possessive) needed in stigmas. Stigmas is a plural, not a possessive.

Just a question, when Hurricane Andrew hit Fla., and when some of the residents moved to other places to relocate with family, were they called refugees???

Yes. Because they were persons seeking refuge. However I'd think it would be used less for people moving in with family than with people who find themselves homeless and don't have familial alternatives.

Another queston for those of you who feel this is an appropriate term, and who will continue to use it. The people who have evacuated prior to, the ones who are not in homeless shelters, the ones who had money to go somewhere else, what will you call them??????

Refugees. Evacuees. Either will suffice for any of the people displaced by the storm, regardless of socioeconomic background.

These people are survivors, IMO. They survived what may come to be known as the worst hurricane in US history. They were residents of Louisiana, a state that is part of the United States of America. They did not come from other countries, they don't have to have a VISA to travel nor did they have to get permission from the Department of Immigration.
SURVIVORS.

Survivors works fine, but it does not provide a description for their homelessness/displacement. The term refugee does. It doesn't connote negativity. It connotes homelessness due to crisis and shelter-seeking (refuge).

It's not that we "feel" it is an appropriate term. It is, by definition.

I really don't understand the brouhaha here. It seems that some people want to believe it means something that it does not.