Bush joins those opposed to word "refugees" ("they are Americans.")

[sabra]

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/ledgerenquirer/news/local/12572851.htm

Bush joins those opposed to word "refugees"

Associated Press


WHITE HOUSE - In the debate about how to describe those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, President Bush is joining those who don't like the word "refugees."

The president tells reporters, "The people we're talking about are not refugees, they are Americans."

And he adds, "They need the help and love and compassion of our fellow citizens."

...

His words appear to put him on the same side as the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who has declared it's "racist" to call U.S. citizens refugees.

[Triana]

1. Well I have to agree with him on THAT! (n/t)

[moc]

2. Yeah, but he referred to it as "this part of the world"

:eyes:

[whistle]

3. They are actually displaced persons

Meaning #1: a person forced to flee from home or country

[JustSayNO 2 Sheeples]

4. What? you mean you aren't going to continue saying

that people from "this part of the world..."?

Fuck you, Bush, isn't it time for another staged photo op?

[shraby]

5. Of course he will..it's politically expedient...

some were getting criticized for using the word 'refugees' and 'Americans' was suggested. So guess what? Bush uses 'Americans'

[Imagevision]

6. Rove must be monitoring the DU.

[Ms. Toad]

32. Actually, I heard the "don't call them refugees" line first

from Lars Larsen (right wing conservative talk show host). I've been pretty much glued to these boards since last Monday - and it was on an evening ride home when the only talk shows that are on are right wing garbage that I first heard the line - followed shortly thereafter by it being picked up here.

DU's first inclination (~Tuesday) was don't call them homeless, they're refugees (because of the negative connotations in some folks' minds with homelessness).

I was in a primarily left leaning, mixed race, group tonight. Their universal reaction, upon hearing that the local paper had received a complaint about the use of the word refugee was that, "It must have been a right wing person complaining about the paper's use of the word refugee."

It has been interesting to watch the framing battle on this one...

[Ediacara]

7. Jackson is 100% wrong when he says that "refugee" is racist

It's simply incorrect useage. These people are Internally Displaced Persons. IDPs are defined as:

"Internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border."

(Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, OCHA, 1998)

[leveymg]

8. America is a country built by refugees and slaves.

It's a label that should be worn with pride and knowledge of history.

[Igel]

9. No less an authority on English than * now supports

the call.

I'm certainly convinced.

Who knew I was being racist to whites by calling them 'refugees'?

[Tomee450]

11. It would be nice

if certain people would try to put themselves in the shoes of others whose experience is different from theirs. Blacks have always been considered the "others" in this society and now they are being referred to as refugees. I cannot recall that that term has been used to describe other displaced Americans. Why now when most of the victims of this tragedy are black? Can you not see how that might look to black Americans?

[Skittles]

13. wealthy whites would never be called refugees in a million f***ing years

of cocurse it is freaking RACIST

[DrZeeLit]

15. I agree. Said that a couple days ago. Got flamed. Thanks, you said it

much better than I did.

I know it's hard for people to understand that language can mean so much, that labels can hurt very much.

I had also considered that the term "refugee" implied a certain "choice" in the matter -- both to the stranded person (who actually wanted to leave a place. usually for political reasons, but not always) AND a choice for the receivers, those who could decide or not, to help ou, to take in those "tempest tossed."

In this instance, I believe we all have NO CHOICE. We MUST DO. No questions, no hesitations.

And I agree, with Skittles, it's not a "white" term. For me, the term will always be linked with the "boat people" (another yucky label) escaping from Vietnam.

It's not even about PC for me... kindness. These are our own. Americans.

[Igel]

28. So we're left calling them 'displaced', as though

that denies people a choice?

For you, 'refugee' may be people forced to flee S. Vietnam when the north took it over.

For me, I look at the Jews that left Europe and N. Africa/Yemen; the Afghans in Pakistan; the Russians that went to Paris in the 1920s; and the people from Fallujah; and Serbians that fled Kosovo.

I guess 'displaced' is a synonym. But it's a sucky one.

[Igel]

27. I don't know that most of the "displaced" are black.

I know that most of the displaced from NOLA are black. And most of the sources I've read don't say that the refugees are black: there are almost a million refugees.

I know that I've seen quotes from people assuming that "refugees" applies only to those from the Superdome and NOLA. They're misreading things.

I saw a quote from a survivor in NOLA saying that she was an American, not a refugee. She was right: she wasn't a refugee. She stayed put.

In fact, most of the things I've read that use 'refugees' are ambiguous: You assume it refers to blacks, and there's little proving it doesn't. It's when you read more, you realize there are many references in which it doesn't refer just to blacks, or even just Louisianans. But if I narrow my reading, I'd realize that "evacuees" *does* refer almost exclusively to blacks.

Besides the bureaucratic bit of legalese "displaced", I don't have another word for the group of people that I've been calling refugees. And I find "the displaced" to be a better name for a rock band than people.

I saw a whole flock of refugees today, all with their SUVs, almost all white. I guess for many people, that's rather like saying "I saw a whole flock of mammals today, all with their gills, laying eggs."

[pitohui]

34. are YOU a refugee

then don't tell me what to call myself or what i'm allowed to call myself

white, black, vietnamese have died & lost homes in this

don't give me a damn grammar lesson

you weren't there, bush wasn't there

i have no home, i'm a refugee, if that offends you because it admits that not all white or asian americans have it so easy, too damn bad

on edit-- igil puts it better than me, maybe i should shut up & let this poster talk...

[SomewhereOutThere424]

10. So which is it, bush?

Your mother seems to simply think of them as 'poor'. Why go through so much trouble to try to give these people dignity as americans by calling them americans, and then treat them like slime in ways of rescue? You certainly didn't make them FEEL like americans. :grr:

[iverglas]

12. and the displaced in Sudan are Sudanese ...

But of course that's not as good as being "Americans", so it's okay to call them refugees.

Others who have said it here are correct: they are internally displaced persons.

No one here, of course, will remember when *that* was a pejorative term: the "DP"s who landed on other countries' shores after WWII and were looked firmly down on. But that might be why it isn't regarded as a safe term to use about "Americans".

"Refugee" came into use as a substitute for "displaced person", although it does have a more technical meaning when used in international law, referring to people who are fleeing persecution rather than disaster or disadvantage. But in its ordinary meaning, it really just does refer to someone seeking refuge from something.

That's not to say that it can't or isn't used pejoratively -- or heard as having a pejorative meaning and thus creating a negative image of those it is applied to. Just as "displaced person" was in its day.

To me, the whole things sounds like prosperity religion. If you suffer a misfortune, it's obviously your own damned fault because you just aren't a good person and god hates you. It wouldn't matter what word was used to describe you, it would identify you to people who think that way as one of that undeserving, rather than unfortunate, class.

[brentspeak]

14. Probably "evacuees" would be the better word

[Igel]

29. The estimates are there are about a million of them.

They didn't evacuate a million people.

And some of the NOLA evacuees don't need help: they were out-of-town visitors. They're still evacuees. But neither refugees, or displaced. Just inconvenienced. And 'survivors'. Some not even Americans.

[pitohui]

35. yea evacuee is fine

i use the words interchangeably just tired of having my rear end chewed off if i use the wrong word by ppl who have no idea

grammar lessons can wait

[antonialee839]

16. Nice touch Karl.

[Arkana]

17. He's simply jumping on the bandwagon.

Not because he actually believes it, but because it's politically advantageous to do so.

[shavedape]

18. always late to the party

I guess the polls showed he needed more 'compassion' in his conservatism.

[ElectroPrincess]

19. At least for THAT part of the *world* ... he can't talk without ...

embarrassing everyone in Our Country. He's incompetent and some say, borderline insane. Yet the republican shills still pretend that he's both witty and compassionate.

Bush-World is one bizarre land. Not even the paid off USA Mass Media is able to deceive the sheeple of such blatant lies and distortions that emanates from this Criminal Executive Branch.

The jig is up ... we're just waiting for the timing to mesh with the powers that be (preparing to take charge).

[Demeter]

20. Why Not Be Honest, and Call Them "The Bushwhacked"?

Pithy, politically correct, and distinctive.

[4_Legs_Good]

21. I thought they were "The folks who live in this part of the world"

WTF was that all about???

david

[pitohui]

36. he didn't want to say "southerners"

guess what, we're black, white, and asian in the south

too much for his tiny connecticutt yankee brain to handle

so "the folks who live in this part of the world" that i'm not sure where it actually is...

[Gregorian]

22. Actions speak louder than words.

Republicans- the party of WORDS. Empty words.

They don't care what you call them. But they care a lot about not being rescued in time.

[AZBlue]

23. Thousands join those opposed to the words "President Bush"

:kick:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. "Bush grasps for any possible straw"

"that might help him pull his ratings higher"

[fooj]

25. Fuck him. He's not fit to be in the same room with those Americans.

Peace.

[JoFerret]

26. In that case - I need to re-examine my word choice again.

If Bush is on the band wagon - time to re-consider. (Even though I understand that sometimes the devil speaks true.)

[JusticeForAll]

30. I feel like we are all refugees...

Wasn't our country stolen from us?

[VegasWolf]

31. Yeah right! Bush the world expert on language! What an idiot, aren't

there other things for these poor people seeking refuge, aka refugees, that Bush could be doing.

[pitohui]

33. i am a refugee & i am an american

i did not know that it was somehow unpatriotic to make a statement of fact

i have friends who are long-term homeless and they are americans

i have friends who are schizophrenics and they are americans

i have friends who are disabled and they are americans

am i only an american if it is a bright sunny day at the mall?

caligula lite and the rest of the fucking grammar police can go straight to hell

if i can't go back to my home, if i don't even know if i have a home, guess what, i'm a refugee

and if that injures the chimperor's pride i could not give one tiny little damn

he needs to grow up and get over

[TankLV]

37. I have never, ever, given a shit for what that criminal says.

Except to add it to the mounting evidence that can be used against him in our goal to get him and all his criminal pals thrown into prison and hopefully pay the ULTIMATE price.

[alarimer]

38. Even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then

for once I agree with him.