Use of Word 'Refugee' Stirs Race Debate

[Eugene]

Use of Word 'Refugee' Stirs Race Debate


Wednesday September 7, 2005 3:46 AM

AP Photo TXDC106

By JOCELYN NOVECK

Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - What do you call people who have been driven from
their homes with only the clothes on their backs, unsure if they will
ever be able to return, and forced to build a new life in a strange
place?

News organizations are struggling for the right word.

Many, including The Associated Press, have used "refugee" to
describe those displaced by the wrath of Hurricane Katrina.

But the choice has stirred anger among some readers and other critics,
particularly in the black community. They have argued that "refugee"
somehow implies that the displaced storm victims, many of whom are
black, are second-class citizens - or not even Americans.

<snip>

The criticism has led several news organizations to ban the word in
their Katrina coverage. Among them are The Washington Post, The Miami
Herald and The Boston Globe.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5260888,00.html