refugee (GET IT RIGHT PEOPLE!)

[William769]

Main Entry: ref·u·gee
Pronunciation: "re-fyu-'jE, 're-fyu-"
Function: noun
Etymology: French réfugié, past participle of (se) réfugier to take refuge, from Latin refugium
: one that flees; especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution

http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=refugees

The people of NO ARE NO REFUGEES!

[tocqueville]

1. the concept of foreign country doesn't always apply

even if it is often the case

as soon you take refuge you are a refugee

"one that flees"

[Fleshdancer]

2. Americans first. Victims of Hurrican Katrina second.

I agree William, they are us and we are not refugees.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[seemslikeadream]

5. And to the former mayor of New Orleans

He does NOT want the word refugee used either

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

6. If Nagin doesn't want it used, and the CBC doesn't want it used,

then what is white America's problem with that? Call them "Americans" or "evacuees" and move on with rescue process.

I've been evacuated twice, and I was never called a "refugee," but then, I'm not black either, nor the son or daughter of slaves.

[Igel]

10. Because the CBC doesn't function as the

Academie francaise, able to ban words because they don't like the meaning or provenance.

Not all evacuees are refugees, just as not all refugees are evacuees.

[seemslikeadream]

12. Just keep watching FOX NEWS then

you will not be disappointed

[skids]

13. Precisely -- common courtesy folks.

If someone says "don't call me fred" and you continue to call them fred, that is insulting.

If the CBC and other representative leaders object to the use of the term, semantics don't matter. Out of respect for them, find another. Don't sit there simpering about who is semantically correct like that Tucker Carlson weenie. Just f**king do it. Out of respect.

[seemslikeadream]

14. RESPECT FOR THE BLACK CAUCUS AND THE MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS

THANKS


The Black Caucus was right about Haiti but no one listened then either

[Igel]

19. The CBC does not speak for the entire population of NOLA.

Does it?

Were they elected to do so?

Is this part of their congressional duties?

Or was the entirety of the population of NOLA black, a fact unknown to census takers?

The CBC are certainly not refugees.

And if people don't want to be called something, they can say so. They haven't.

[Kitka]

4. The 'one that flees' part applies.

Yes, there is an 'especially' qualifier, but "refugee" can still apply as they have fled NO.

I like to point out errors in thie vein as well, but I honestly think that right now the outrage should be directed at the way the storm was/is handled and not at people being called 'refugees'.

[Desertrose]

7. people, we have bigger & more important things to deal with here....

seriously....this is a minor point in the total picture

I'm sure those who were caught in this catastrophe are not worrying about labels at this point.

[mikelewis]

8. Who cares what you call them... get them help and no label

will be necessary.

[Igel]

9. Consider the following, and tell me which word covers them all.

Evacuees. Many weren't evacuated; they just fled. But evacuees also includes the "rich" that were in the various hotels. They were evacuated; but they're home now, not seeking shelter away from home.

Americans. But there were British and Australians there. Who knew Katrina issued passports. While it includes non-Americans in NOLA and other Katrina-ravaged areas, it also includes those who've been in Seattle the whole time.

Survivors. That includes those left in NOLA that never left. And includes those that left by plane on the Saturday before Katrina left. Katrina, airline food, bad traffic ... all the same.

Homeless. Which includes people that were never in Louisiana or Mississippi. And it includes people still in Louisiana and Mississippi that haven't fled.

Citizen. Of what? Mississippi? The US? Granada? Most of us are citizens of somewhere; but if by that you mean "American citizen", see the problems with "American".


What you're after is a word that covers those who have fled and are seeking refuge. Not one that must include those that didn't flee or those those that aren't seeking refuge. The UN has one. "Displaced persons." But that's bureaucratic jargon, and usually comes out as DP. (Which for me means 'determiner phrase', but that's linguistic jargon.)

Why we need to force people to not use a perfectly good word, and use euphemisms for something that needs no euphemism, and which moreover don't have the right meaning, is beyond me.

Perhaps next we can have a euphemism for 'hurricane.' Perhaps 'shower' or how about 'tea kettle'? Katrina wasn't a hurricane, it was a category 5 tea kettle. Nice, soothing ... makes me feel better just thinking about it.

[seemslikeadream]

11. ONE MORE TIME ALL THAT MATTERS IS WHAT THE MAYOR

THE BLACK CAUCUS AND THE FORMER MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS THINKS

I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT DEFINITIONS

[Igel]

21. Fine. I assume you default to calling them .

Let's help the. Because there are over a half million of the. Of course, not all of the are black, so I'm not sure that all of the have elected the CBC to speak for them. Maybe they did poll the as they became .

You see? It's much clearer when we don't give phonological or phonetic form to the word used to describe all of the . They can just be white spaces. Oops. That would probably rankle, wouldn't it? Let's call them clear spaces.

And we'll put a momentary pause in our speaking when we want to refer to the .

I approve.

Or at least I would if I abdicated my own thinking to others and think that pitching a word of such high topical utility with no replacement was a sound thing to do.

[Guaranteed]

22. But only if the Mayor and the CBC say so. nt

[seemslikeadream]

24. One and a half million American citizens

[Gormy Cuss]

18. Why we need to avoid a perfectly good and accurate word

The OP showed a dictionary definition that in fact proves 'refugee' is the accurate description. The problem is too many people THINK the word is applicable only to those who flee from one country to another. Just read the DUers who have posted on the matter -- there an astounding number who refuse to accept the term because they think it implies these aren't Americans. The politicians who have been most vocal about it have asked us to use something else. Black leaders have been very vocal in their disdain for the term. Since the racial issues in this disaster are all about African-Americans, I'll go with the guidance of the CBC and other black leaders on the matter of framing here and use weaker, less accurate terms. Language matters.

[Zodiak]

15. It is about respect

I heard the request from the CBC and had no idea that the word implies fleeing one's country. I made the shift to "evacuees", or "New Orleanders" in an instant.

I don't give a crap about tight little definitions when it comes to respect...to hide behind such things as a justification to continue insulting these people is elitist.

[AnnieBW]

16. They're IDPs

Internally Displaced Persons. That's the applicable term when large groups of people are forced to move to a different location in the same country.

[seemslikeadream]

17. Perception manipulation, in a very sinister form

[Malikshah]

20. Get it right people-- Semantic Threads are tiresome

and take people off the key issues.

[seemslikeadream]

23. Jesse Jackson on Lou Dobbs tonight said

They are American citizens NOT refugees