The common definition of "refugee."
Refugee: n. - One who flees to a shelter, or place of safety.
How does this not apply to the evacuees from the Gulf Coast? While they don't fit the 1951 definition, they do fit the common usage of the term.
So why are people so upset when the evacuees are called refugees?
There is no moral judgement in the term "refugee." One can be an American and a refugee at the same time. One can be a Louisianan and a refugee. Or a taxpayer and a refugee.
And the last person I need lecturing me on who is a refugee is zillionaire Oprah Winfrey.
posted by The Last American at 9:16:00 AM
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2 Comments:
I didn't hear Oprah's comments on that particular issue, but refugee carries a connotation of victimhood and there's too much a culture of embracing victimhood when we should be embracing survival, not just in this circumstance but generally. As "refugees" or "victims" the survivors would be expected to wait in shelters or, worse, refugee camps for someone to tell them their homes are ready to return to. As American survivors, they'll certainly get help, but the decisions should be theirs - relocate now, rebuild, etc. If they choose to relocate when do they stop being refugees? The Palestinians have built cities in the West Bank but they're "refugee camps" fifty years after they were built.
I said much the same thing in this commentary:
http://multiracial.com/content/view/50/27/
The basic issue with the word began only after Jesse Jackson seized on it at a publicly covered address to a crowd of people fleeing a natural disaster to seek refuge. Its an excuse for him to do what he does best - make some media organizations dance like puppets, rather than honestly discuss said plight of people fleeing a natural disaster to seek refuge.
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