refugee, IDP, evacuee

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Mon, 5 Sep 2005 08:44:36 -0700, Dave Wilton wrote:

> Alice Faber wrote:
>
>> Or sensitive to some connotations of the word that have nothing to do
>> with its etymological history. I've seen enough statements now from
>> people who think that use of the word "refugee" connotes
>> "not-American", and I think that it's disrespectful, given how
>> marginalized many of the folks who were most affected by the storm
>> already feel.
>
>And objectionable to those who don't want to face the fact that many of
>the policies of the US government since the 1980s have created a class
>of people in the US who are living in Third World conditions.
>
>"Somewhere, somehow somebody
>Must have kicked you around some
>Tell me why you wanna lay there
>And revel in your abandon
>Listen it don't make no difference to me baby
>Everybody's had to fight to be free
>You see you don't have to live like a refugee"
>
>--Tom Petty, 1979

And like any other term with pejorative overtones, "refugee" is subject to
reclamation and melioration. See, e.g., the Fugees, aka the Refugee Camp,
a rap trio of the '90s -- "'fugees" is apparently a slur for Haitian
immigrants to the US. All three members were actually born in New Jersey,
though two (Wyclef Jean and Prakazrel Michel, aka Pras) are of Haitian
descent. I always thought it a bit odd to hear Lauryn Hill singing about
being a "refugee" when she (like me) grew up in comfortable South Orange,
NJ.


--Ben Zimmer