Monday, September 05, 2005
Refugees, Evacuees, Whatever...
Don't Downplay the Catastrophe
What's up with the line that we shouldn't be referring to the the evacuees/refugees from Katrina as such? Yesterday the Reverend Jackson took reporters to task for using both terms. "They are citizens" he said. Does calling someone a refugee dehumanize them? I don't think so. I think it really humanizes them and underscored the local, state and federal failures in this situation. We may not want to acknowlegde that we have more refugees in the United States right now than Sudan has in Darfur, but it is the cold, sad truth.
What's up with the line that we shouldn't be referring to the the evacuees/refugees from Katrina as such? Yesterday the Reverend Jackson took reporters to task for using both terms. "They are citizens" he said. Does calling someone a refugee dehumanize them? I don't think so. I think it really humanizes them and underscored the local, state and federal failures in this situation. We may not want to acknowlegde that we have more refugees in the United States right now than Sudan has in Darfur, but it is the cold, sad truth.
