TomPetty : "Feel Like A Refugee"

[kentuck]

Anybody remember that song?

The debate this morning on C-SPAN has focused somewhat on this term. Do you think it is inappropriate? Doesn't the term "refugee" somehow distance the person referred to and makes them somehow not part of "us"? They are foreigners. No need to feel too much compassion? They are "refugees"?

[Cooley Hurd]

1. ref·u·gee (from Dictionary.com)

(n) One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.

Yes, it's inappropriate.:thumbsdown:

[Kire]

2. how is it inappropriate?

the people in new orleans are fleeing in search of refuge, they are being politically oppressed by the lack of food and the neglect of the relief agencies.

[Cooley Hurd]

3. Actually, you have a point...

:thumbsup:

[hobbit709]

4. If you sitting on a rooftop

you're definitely in need of refuge-
1. Protection or shelter, as from danger or hardship.
2. A place providing protection or shelter.
3. A source of help, relief, or comfort in times of trouble.
So I'd say if you're in need of refuge then you are a refugee by seeking shelter

[Ezlivin]

5. The Oxford American Dictionary sez

"A person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution or natural disaster."

I guess it depends on your definition of "is".

:)

[Kire]

6. I think anyone who is forced to take one single step in any direction

is a refugee.

key word being "forced"

[PA Democrat]

7. These folks don't have to leave the United States because the

US has left them. New Orleans does not appear to be a part of the America that I grew up in. It looks like a 3rd world country.

[jpgray]

8. It was originally used in regard to the Huguenots

The ones who emigrated to England in the seventeenth century when the Edict of Nantes was revoked. And the strict definition remains: One who, owing to religious persecution or political troubles, seeks refuge in a foreign country.

[goodhue]

9. This topic was discussed in several threads yesterday

Here is one of them . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4579276

I think it is inaccurate and disrespectful to call the victims refugees, but many folks apparently think that is just semantics.