refugee, IDP, evacuee

[Margaret Lee]

Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU> wrote:
At 6:58 AM -0700 9/6/05, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Margaret, I didn't write that.
>
>Anyway, except for fugitive slaves and the like, black people
>haven't been "refugees" in America since 1619. People brought and
>held forcibly against their will may be slaves, or captives, or
>prisoners, or other things, but hardly "refugees." Refugees leave,
>or are tossed out of, an intolerable place to seek refuge elsewhere.
>
>At least that's my understanding of the word "refugee."
>
>JL
>

Perhaps we need to broaden the definition.


... and then there's "exile", for those tossed out of (relatively)
tolerable places. But of course exiles can also be, or become,
refugees.

Larry




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