"refugee" a bad word

[Harrold Wilson Gray]

I vaguely remember the term, "internal refugees," used WRT to the
consequences of politically-motivated population shifts in the old
Soviet Union. Despite the fact that the original term had to do with
our long-time enemy, I like it as a term for the people displaced by
the hurricane. Hey! Why not "displaced persons"?

-Wilson Gray

On Sep 2, 2005, at 10:59 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      "refugee" a bad word
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> CNN just presented a member of Congress who said, approximately:
>
> "The media must stop referring to 'refugees.' They are not refugees.
> They are American citizens. To refer to them as refugees is to place
> them in an entirely different status."
>
> On the one hand, this is an absurd statement. They *are* refugees, and
> there's nothing wrong with that.  On the other hand, they *are*
> American citizens, a designation which does seem to confer rather
> greater dignity.
>
> What irks me is the suggestion that the word "refugee" should now be
> absolutely prohibited in this situation.
>
> JL
>
>
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