Geoffrey Nunberg - on "looting" and "refugee"
Geoffrey Nunberg - on "looting" and "refugee": "Those difficulties led a lot of broadcasters and journalists to describe the displaced people as refugees. As it happens, that's another borrowed word, from the French name for the Huguenots who went to England when their religious freedom was withdrawn with the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.
You could argue that there's some precedent for using the word in situations like this one -- Woody Guthrie used it in his famous song 'Dust Bowl Refugee,' when a combination of natural disaster and government inaction led to another massive displacement of poor people in America.
But to most Americans, 'refugee' brings to mind the image of those who are forced to seek asylum in another country because of war, political turmoil, or persecution, which is how most dictionaries and international organizations define the word. Some black leaders objected to those implications -- and indeed, it turns out that the press has been using 'refugee' disproportionately in the neighborhood of 'poor' or 'black' or in reference to the people gathered in the Astrodome. [1]
On Tuesday, President Bush said he agreed with them. '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.'
Some newspapers and wire services have defended the use of 'refugee' as meaning simply someone who seeks refuge. But that doesn't seem right -- ducking into a ski hut to wait out a blizzard doesn't make me a refugee.
And at a time like this, it's hard to defend a term that some victims of the disaster are likely to be offended by. 'It makes me feel like I'm from another country,' one survivor said in Houston."
You could argue that there's some precedent for using the word in situations like this one -- Woody Guthrie used it in his famous song 'Dust Bowl Refugee,' when a combination of natural disaster and government inaction led to another massive displacement of poor people in America.
But to most Americans, 'refugee' brings to mind the image of those who are forced to seek asylum in another country because of war, political turmoil, or persecution, which is how most dictionaries and international organizations define the word. Some black leaders objected to those implications -- and indeed, it turns out that the press has been using 'refugee' disproportionately in the neighborhood of 'poor' or 'black' or in reference to the people gathered in the Astrodome. [1]
On Tuesday, President Bush said he agreed with them. '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.'
Some newspapers and wire services have defended the use of 'refugee' as meaning simply someone who seeks refuge. But that doesn't seem right -- ducking into a ski hut to wait out a blizzard doesn't make me a refugee.
And at a time like this, it's hard to defend a term that some victims of the disaster are likely to be offended by. 'It makes me feel like I'm from another country,' one survivor said in Houston."
posted by Blackgold at 8:50 PM
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