Thursday, September 08, 2005

Refugees

A friend called me today, he feels that using the word refugee when referring to American citizens is racist. He pointed out that it has never been used to describe American citizens inside the U.S. before. I will have to take his word for it, I haven't been able to find any other instances where it's been used, but I also can't find any disaster where this many people have been displaced. I disagree with him for a couple of reasons. First of all, refugee is a term that has been used to describe many people, all over the world, regardless of race, and secondly, these people are seeking refuge!

ref·uge ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rfyj)n.
Protection or shelter, as from danger or hardship.
A place providing protection or shelter.
A source of help, relief, or comfort in times of trouble. See Synonyms at shelter

Please tell me how this is racist. These people are seeking protection, help, relief, comfort, in times of trouble. They are refugees.

7 comments:

Mookie McFly said...

I too like the (re)Fugees music & think we should all continue to support them...even if it has been a while since they have all been together in the same place.

Anonymous said...

So after the "30's" only blacks can be "refugees"? That what you saying? Myself and Mr Petty take issue with such nonsensical gibberish.

Somewhere, somehow somebody
Must have kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped
Tied up, taken away and held for ransom
It don't really matter to me
Everybody's had to fight to be free
You see you don't have to live like a refugee
I said you don't have to live like a refugee

Rhino-itall said...

for got it: here's the definition of refugee from websters
ref·u·gee ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rfy-j)
n.
One who flees in search of refuge, as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution.
"ONE WHO FLEES IN SEARCH OF REFUGE"
I hope i clarified that for you.

Rhino-itall said...

Hey got it, welcome aboard, i look forward to the debate.

Rhino-itall said...

by the way, the dustbowlers didn't leave to make money, they left to survive. the government didn't evacuate anyone in new orleans, the people who left, left on thier own. Finally, on the use of the term, I can't think of any other time in our history where this many people were displaced from thier homes and were forced to seek refuge, except for the dust bowl, and i didn't even think of that one. (wife and kids) the fact that these people were black had nothing to do with it.

Anonymous said...

What about Tony Montana? He was a political refugee. Seriously I disagree with both of you. I dont think the word was being used in a racist manner, (even though for some reason this is being made out to be a "black tragedy" in the news as opposed to an american one)but I dont think it was being used correctly either. In my opinion the word is too strong to use in this case.
"as in times of war, political oppression, or religious persecution".

If your house is on fire and you had to "flee" to "safety" and you then had to look for a hotel room (shelter) or a friends place (shelter) to crash would that make you a refugee?

btw wat up gotit welcome...now grab pen and paper bcuz school is in session

Anonymous said...

Rhino you said "I can't think of any other time in our history where this many people were displaced from thier homes and were forced to seek refuge, except for the dust bowl" How soon we forget about the Indian Removal Act of 1830 where tens of thousands of injuns were "forced" to "seek refuge" in other places that were not their native homeland. Thats a part of our history too right?