NationStates Jolt Archive

NEW YORK - 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" implies that the displaced storm victims, many of whom have been black, are second-class citizens — or not even Americans.
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"It is racist to call American citizens refugees," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, visiting the Houston Astrodome on Monday. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have expressed similar sentiments.

Other terms under fire
Others have countered that the terms "evacuees" or even "displaced" are too clinical and not sufficiently dramatic to convey the dire situation that confronts many of Katrina's survivors.

President Bush, who has spent days trying to deflect criticism that he responded sluggishly to the disaster, weighed in on Tuesday. "The people we're talking about are not refugees," he said. "They are Americans, and they need the help and love and compassion of our fellow citizens."

The 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention describes a refugee as someone who has fled across an international border to escape violence or persecution. But the Webster's New World Dictionary defines it more broadly as "a person who flees from home or country to seek refuge elsewhere, as in a time of war or of political or religious persecution."

Some papers refuse to use ‘refugee’
The criticism has led several news organizations to ban the word in their Katrina coverage. Among them are The Washington Post and the Boston Globe.

"We haven't used the word since the beginning of the crisis," said Kenneth Cooper, the Globe's national editor. "Some of us had different reasons, but we all came to the same conclusion: not to use it."

The AP and The New York Times are among those continuing to use the word where it is deemed appropriate.

"The AP is using the term ‘refugee’ where appropriate to capture the sweep and scope of the effects of this historic natural disaster on a vast number of our citizens," said Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll. "Several hundred thousand people have been uprooted from their homes and communities and forced to seek refuge in more than 30 different states across America. Until such time as they are able to take up new lives in their new communities or return to their former homes, they will be refugees."

The Times was adhering to a similar policy.


N.Y. Times: Word describes victims
"We have not banned the word ‘refugee,’" said spokeswoman Catherine Mathis. "We have used it along with ‘evacuee,’ ‘survivor,’ ‘displaced’ and various other terms that fit what our reporters are seeing on the ground. Webster's defines a refugee as a person fleeing ‘home or country’ in search of refuge, and it certainly does justice to the suffering legions driven from their homes by Katrina."

William Safire, who writes the weekly "On Language" column for The New York Times Magazine, said he did not believe the term "refugee" had any racial implications.

"A refugee can be a person of any race at all," he said. "A refugee is a person who seeks refuge."

He first suggested using the term "hurricane refugees." After thinking it over, though, he said he would probably simply use the term "flood victims," to avoid any political connotations.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
What the hell is up with these??? Are people that desperate to play the Race Card that they're willing to force a racist meaning onto non-racist words? :confused:

Feck that. Really, feck it. They seek refuge, they're pretty much in the same circumstances as refugees anywhere, except that hopefully more of them will survive. Also since when was it racist to imply someone wasn't American? (Even though they aren't implying that)

They're refugees, they're just too proud, too American to admit it. :rolleyes:

Groping for racism is just pure bollocks.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Owned. :p

Couldn't we ban the hypersensitive, politically minded and vaugely concerned about the crisis Mr. Jackson? I think things would be better without his presence.

thats a joke right?
surely if its racist to call them it, its racist to call refugees it
sounds like they want one rule for one....

we'll just call em all seeking for refugers

Owned. :p
That's right, I'm a rebel without a cause, what ya going to do about it? :D

http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/632/racecard5nm.jpg

Political Correctness has AIDS now? I hope it didn't get it from me.

Refugee is the perfect term in my book.

I don't think Refugee is a racist word. However, as Bush said, they are americans, not refugees from a foreign country.

anyone who thinks refugee is a racist word should be ignored as they are clearly idiots.they are seeking refuge,ergo they are refugees.so they arent seeking refuge in another country,that has no affect on the meaning of the word.the fools could have looked the bloody word up in a dictionary first.

Basically, if you see the word 'refugee' in the media, you find it usually accompanies images of destitute black people in some third world country. In the minds of some Americans watching this mess, the word therefore has a negative, racially-linked connotation.

But all it shows is that they watch too much TV without understanding the issues behind the images.

Basically, if you see the word 'refugee' in the media, you find it usually accompanies images of destitute black people in some third world country. In the minds of some Americans watching this mess, the word therefore has a negative, racially-linked connotation.

But all it shows is that they watch too much TV without understanding the issues behind the images. It can equally mean destitute mostly-black people in some first world country (ie the people from New Orleans). Hell, Kosovo wasn't exactly a third world country, and it didn't have a high black population.

This is silly. Yes, most of the refugees (there, I said it) from the New Orleans area are black, but there are plenty of white and Hispanic storm refugees from elsewhere in Louisiana and Mississippi. It's not racist, it's not demeaning, it's just an accurate description of what they are as a result of forces beyond their control.

If Jackson can come up with a better word, I'll use it. Until then I'll call them refugees.

:rolleyes:

Fuck political correctness. Fuck it in it's filthy AIDS ridden ass.

Really now, was there any need for this? Absolutely not.

Really now, was there any need for this? Absolutely not.
Sorry, just trying to be politically incorect to illustrate my disdain for political correctness.

Yes, political correctness is more of a burden than a blessing. It's often used to promote racism, just not to benefit whites. It's used for sexism, just not to benefit men. It forces people to think of the elderly as completely emotionless. It's used against people who never did anything bad in their life all because someone else of the same color and gender did decades ago. We should take that retarded race card and burn it. It caused nothing but trouble for everyone, whether they be male or female, old or young, or white, black, hispanic, or anyone else.

http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/632/racecard5nm.jpg

lol :D

How fitting that it has JJackson's face on it, you never know what that guy'll do next.

Refugee is now racist? What exactly are we suppossed to call them? Those fleeing there homes to seek refuge in other places. Hmmm. I think that's what I'll start calling them. Then when someone asks, I'll tell them that the term refugee is racist and politcally incorrect.

lol :D

How fitting that it has JJackson's face on it, you never know what that guy'll do next.
Yes you do, you'll know exactly what he'll do next. He'll either try to blackmail a company as being racist, or charge someone in power to give him money or be called racist.

http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/632/racecard5nm.jpg

LOL!

Got any others like this?
Political correctness is nothning but a form of thought control right now.

"Refugee is now a racist term?"

This is what happens when you don't pay attention in English class.

Anyone besides me remember when the Clinton appointee ( who just happened to be gay ) used the term "niggardly?" Remember how he was so castigated for being "racist" that he finally resigned from office and was reassigned. Remember how none of the idiots who were so fucking stupid as to equate "niggardly" with "******" ever even apologized for being so stupid?

Oh brother.

They are refugees! Simple as that. Anyone who doesn't think they are refugees is dreaming.

AND THAT INCLUDES PRESIDENT BUSH: "They aren't refugees, there Americans"

Come on Bush. They are Refugees and you know it!

Fuck em, just call them DPs (Displace Persons) like they did back when my dad was REFUGEE.

People who complain about such things have nothing to say, but they stll have a tongue, and they lick and suck and blow.

LOL!

Got any others like this?
Political correctness is nothning but a form of thought control right now.
I only make 'em as they come to me.

But the choice has stirred anger among some readers and other critics, particularly in the black community. They have argued that "refugee" implies that the displaced storm victims, many of whom have been black, are second-class citizens — or not even Americans.
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"It is racist to call American citizens refugees," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said, visiting the Houston Astrodome on Monday. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus have expressed similar sentiments.

Fuck it, I'm going to say it

Only Black Americans can say that kind of shit and get the hell away with complete and under idiocy. Why? Because this country is so racist, we can't tell them they're dumb unless we're also black. Why? Because then we'd be racist...

I hate a part of this country's minority. I especially hate our media, and how we can't call a man 'black' but have to call him 'African American' on the news broadcast... but the guy is from Jamaica...

Yes, our country has a big huge fucking problem. It's called 'Not Taking Responsibility', and some of our culture can't get over the fact that it's not, "The Man" who's beating down on them anymore. Everything is 'The Man's' fault, when really you're just too lazy to get off your fucking ass and get a fucking job.

Illegal Immigrants can get jobs, why the hell can't you?!

And this country is still racist. It's racist because it still requires people to catagorize their ethinicity. And the most racist people are people like that, who need to call a man from Jamaica 'African American' because you can't call him 'black'. WTF?

Not only that. How the hell do you call one of your own people a '******', one of the most derogatory terms ever used? You don't see white people walking down the street saying, "Hey Cracker! How you doing today?" or Asians walking down the street going, "What up Slant-Eye?" or even Muslims saying, "How's it goin' Rag-Top?"

And I'm not talking about the majority of the minority. Just the minority within the minority. And the worst thing is that you have morons like Jesse Jackson, going around still espousing that, "The Man" is holding them down. Jesse's part of the problem.

Not only that, but he's probably the worst guy on the planet right now because he's combination between Michael Moore and George Bush Jr. He's a combination of both Moore's and Bush's idiocy, Bush's idiotic take on religion, and Moore's big fucking mouth. Put them together and you get one of the worst people on the planet.

Sorry... needed to rant. I heard the dumbest thing today as I was walking to my bus stop:

A mother talking to one of my school's teachers about her daughter, "Where she be at, there ain't be no phone."

I almost lost my god-damned mind.



Disclaimer: I'm sorry if I offended anyone with the racial slurs I used above.

I hate a part of this country's minority. I especially hate our media, and how we can't call a man 'black' but have to call him 'African American' on the news broadcast... but the guy is from Jamaica...
All I have to say is
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=442870&page=2

What the hell is up with these??? Are people that desperate to play the Race Card that they're willing to force a racist meaning onto non-racist words? :confused:WTF? A refugee is someone that "seeks refuge" from something. It clearly applies. In fact, Cabra West is a German "economic refugee" in Ireland, to give an example of how many places the term applies to. The only "2nd class citizen" term I know of is the legal classification of "refugee status" that has to do with residency rights and freedom from persecution.
This is clearly a case of PC being overused. Maybe they should be referred to as DPs from now on (Displaced Persons).

http://img342.imageshack.us/img342/632/racecard5nm.jpg

Is there a racist card to counter the effect? And if there is it better not be a ripoff of yawgwin. :mad:

It's blank evidence that shows how little the general population knows their vocabulary. Go to your dictionary, people. "Refugee" means a "person who has been forced to leave his country, home, etc. and seek refuge, especially from political and religious persecution". The word is "especially", not "exclusively". It doesn't matter what colour skin the refugee has, or how much money he has. If he/she has been displaced by force, he/she is a refugee.

Phew. Does it take a non-native-English speaker to correct the mistakes of YOUR language? :rolleyes:

Phew. Does it take a non-native-English speaker to correct the mistakes of YOUR language? :rolleyes:
probably

We should not let the real racists among us dictate our policy
towards refugees from other countries.

We're one of, if not the, richest country on the planet
and have lots and lots of space.
Yet what is our acceptance # of refugees compared to
Germany or Norway? number per citizen population?

They're usually trying to escape some conflict our gov't
had a hand in creating in the first place.

What the hell is up with these??? Are people that desperate to play the Race Card that they're willing to force a racist meaning onto non-racist words? :confused:

pc madness gone amuck if you ask me....sad

lol :D

How fitting that it has JJackson's face on it, you never know what that guy'll do next.


someone posted(no offence) that the media whore/racebaiter/jackson should be president,life is truly to amusing sometimes :)

in all seriousness...my brother and his family are now refugees thanks to the storm...

by the way..i'm white :(

like i said...pc gone amuck...and i guess from reading more...some race cards being pulled out...or maybe hyper sensitivity

We should not let the real racists among us dictate our policy
towards refugees from other countries.

We're one of, if not the, richest country on the planet
and have lots and lots of space.
Yet what is our acceptance # of refugees compared to
Germany or Norway? number per citizen population?

They're usually trying to escape some conflict our gov't
had a hand in creating in the first place.
Germany is not a refugee friendly country.

What stupidity.

I'm sick of this reverse Racism.

Yes I said Reverse Racism.

Its the same as before except now not only the shoe is on the other foot, people can't fight back because then they'd be 'Racist'

What stupidity.

I'm sick of this reverse Racism.

Yes I said Reverse Racism.

Its the same as before except now not only the shoe is on the other foot, people can't fight back because then they'd be 'Racist'

This is so very true unfortunately. We need to stop playing the race card at every opportunity.

Well the chap from Hong Kong has already given one definition, but heres what the Oxford English Dictionary (compact edition) has to say:

refugee. noun. a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.

Since "country" and "state" are synonyms, this leads us to the pretty clear conclusion that Jesse Jackson is talking out of his arse. He has made it racist but assigining a racial meaning. The rest of the English speaking world didnt. If he can be helpful any tangible way, then he should shut the fcuk up.

Couldn't we ban the hypersensitive, politically minded and vaugely concerned about the crisis Mr. Jackson? I think things would be better without his presence.
Jesse is just setting up his next shake-down victim. I'm sure he will manage to get huge contributions to his foundation from all those racist newspapers.