refugee, IDP, evacuee

[David Bowie]

From:    Alice Faber <faber at HASKINS.YALE.EDU>
> Jonathan Lighter wrote:

>> OED gives "displaced person" as one of the recognized senses of
>> "refugee."  But surely exx. must be available before 1914 ?

>> The word cranks, bless them, may have fallen prey to the
>> etymological fallacy, however. The earliest OED sense (and maybe
>> the definition was overly specific: worth a review, Jesse !)
>> specifies "one who seeks refuge in a foreign country."

>> The reason for that is that "refugee" in English was first applied
>> to the French Huguenots.

>> I stick by my opinion that anyone who would object stridently and
>> publicly to the word "refugee" in the midst of a natural
>> catastrophe is semi-educated.

>> Or over-educated, as the case may be.

> 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.

Well, given previous discussion i may be setting myself up for massive
scorn here, but to me unmodified "refugee" is consistently someone who
seeks refuge (from something natural or not, it doesn't matter) by
crossing national borders. (Crucially, this is someone who seeks refuge
in a situation where they have no real, effective choice about the
matter--someone who does have a real choice would have to be called by a
different label.) There's nothing at all in it about being a US citizen
or not for me--if US citizens fleeing Katrina seek refuge in Mexico,
they're refugees AISI.

FWIW, i don't like "internally displaced persons", or "evacuees" for
this sort of situation (which isn't the short-term few days that word
allows for me)--i'd rather see a modified form, like "domestic refugees".

--
David Bowie                                         http://pmpkn.net/lx
     Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
     house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
     chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.