They are NOT Refugees, they are CITIZENS!

[JCMach1]

I am very sick of hearing this term used across the media. Not only is it inaccurate by definition, it is at its heart racist.

Rhetorically and psychologically, it consigns the victims of Katrina to the status of someone who is 'fleeing the country'... ie a non-citizen trying to enter another country.

The victims of Katrina are citizens of the United States and we need to begin treating them as such.

[Jersey Devil]

1. Right now they are being treated as 'foreign combatants'

Not even allowed to leave the filthy areas they are penned up in. Hell, they may as well be in Gitmo

[SledDriver]

2. Right! They are AMERICANS !!!

[lady lib]

3. They're "evacuees." nt

[WatchWhatISay]

4. I came across a family from New Orleans at CVS pharmacy this evening

They were staying with his cousin's family who live here. They were driving a brand new minivan, but they didn't know yet how their house, which they said was very close to Lake Ponchetrane, had fared.
They were trying to get an inhaler for their son, who looked about 13, from the pharmacy, but were told they needed a prescription for it. Of course they cannot contact their doctor in NOLA.

Anyway, they referred to themselves as "evacuees". I was glad to know that because I wondered what the people who left would find an acceptable term for what they should be called.

We live in The Woodlands, TX, which is about 30 miles north of Houston. My daughter says there are about 300 kids from Louisiana enrolled in her school. Many of the families have decided they are not going back and are starting to look for new homes here. I'm sure they are the lucky insured ones, most likely working for major oil companies, who will transfer their jobs here.

[goodhue]

5. 52-year-old Ina Duncan: We are only victims of Hurricane Katrina.

http://blogs.chron.com/domeblog/

In the midst of all this, Bryant says, the evacuees are trying to keep their dignity. Many object to the term "refugee," including 52-year-old Ina Duncan:

We are only victims of Hurricane Katrina. I was born at Charity Hospital. We are not refugees. We are taxpayers. We are victims of the hurricane and we are having a crisis.

[goodhue]

6. I agree, it is racist

But some folks apparently believe it is just semantics

[earth mom]

7. This is a fucking disgrace! Calling citizens refugees!

:puke:

[Bluebear]

8. Could not agree more. nt