...the darker you are, the more refugee-er you are' Read Jeneane Sessum's argument that we stop labeling as "refugees" those who are displaced from their homes because of Hurrican Katrina, levee breaks and subsequent flooding. "We are American Citizens who have been devastated by a hurricane. We are not Refugees.
"It's an important distinction. It's an important distinction in American Perception. And American Perception is Everything in America:
Refugees are never white. White people seek asylum. Refugees are not American by birth. Refugees are poor. They don't go to school. Refugees don't live in my neighborhood. They live in herds. Refugees should be happy with powdered milk and rice. Refugees are easily converted to Christianity. Refugees can't vote. Refugees have runny noses and flies are on them all the time. Refugees don't need homes; they have blankets. Refugees don't work. Refugees can be sent back when things calm down.
If we aren't careful with the language, by 2006 every brother in America will be a Refugee. And the darker you are, the more refugee-er you are.
So, what label shall we then use? We have to have a label, after all. We must classify and pigeonhole. How about "displaced persons"? But that term reminds me of the short story by Flannery O'Connor.