The Journalistic Use Of The Word “Refugee”

Judy Dothard Simmons says:

The people stranded in New Orleans are refugees in that theyare human beings fleeing danger and discomfort in search ofshelter and succor. This includes not only those who weresnared there by flood, but also those who left days earlierand whose homes and businesses no longer exist. The millionsof people who are moved to aid storm victims-displacedpersons-evacuees-refugees do so because they recognize andempathize with people seeking refuge.

The words "refuge" and its derivative, "refugee," have ahistory and connotations far older than the post-World WarII, UN Convention meaning of political displacement inanother country. The words have deep metaphysicalconnotations as well, and resonate mightily within religiousand spiritual lore. The root sense comes from the Fréfugié,past participle of the word réfugier (to take refuge,i.e.,shelter or protection from danger or distress), whichderives circa 1645 from the L refugium. Proposing to limitits meaning to last fifty years of human history seemshubristic as well as impoverishing.The people stranded in New Orleans are refugees in that theyare human beings fleeing danger and discomfort in search ofshelter and succor. This includes not only those who weresnared there by flood, but also those who left days earlierand whose homes and businesses no longer exist. The millionsof people who are moved to aid storm victims-displacedpersons-evacuees-refugees do so because they recognize andempathize with people seeking refuge.These events have the tragic scope that the word“refugee”connotes for me, and the implication that addressing theneed is a global responsibility, and we should be acceptingCuban doctors and Venezuelan oil, and German money, andCanadian expertise, the same way that the world cooperatesto relieve survivors of natural and political disasters inIndonesia or Mexico.Our (that is to say, black) sensibilities are engaged withthe labeling probably because of our constant wounding bylanguage. No matter what the label, nothing will erase thesense many of us have that mountains would have been movedmuch sooner for a white population. We'll never know thatfor sure, and seeking some kind of redress through imposinga reportorial vocabulary won't alter that situation.I would also say that reporters/journalists are engagedprimarily in conveying factual information, and for thatreason may wish to define narrowly. Transmission ofinformation is only one aspect of language use, though, andfor the myriad other usages of the written and spoken word,we need the historic nuances and experiences that accrete toevery word. So, fine, that in the context of U.N.-typeconsiderations there are distinctions made between refugeesin country and refugees out. That is the jargon of aparticular segment of human affairs. We journalists aren'twriting U.N. conventions and foreign-aid manuals.The Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines refugee as“aperson taking refuge, esp. in a foreign country for war orpersecution or natural disaster.” Webster’s Ninth NewCollegiate says, “one that flees; esp : one who flees toaforeign country. Wikipedia’s discussion: "A refugee is aperson seeking refuge (or asylum). In common usage, the wordrefers to a person seeking asylum in a foreign country inorder to escape persecution. Those who seek refugee statusare sometimes known as asylum seekers and the practice ofaccepting such refugees is that of offering politicalasylum. The most common asylum claims are based uponpolitical and religious grounds. The term has also beeninformally used to describe those fleeing natural disasters,such as the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina."Obviously, the jargon meaning is included in all thesedictionary definitions. Perhaps in another 50 years (ormaybe right now if this "motion" to standardize passes) therich history of the word will lose out to the specificpolitical contextual sense. As poet as well as journalist,as a lover of words in their artistic splendor as well astheir utilitarian role, I ask that we not hasten the processof impoverishing and limiting language; in doing so we limitour ability to think, name, and express, and to reach eachother. Since each of us uses and responds differently towords and meanings (this discussion bears that out), we arebetter served, I think, to encourage the broadest rangeexpression, from the inarticulate compassion of Kanye Westto the scripted pronouncements we have to use the secretdecoder ring to decipher.Let each of us tell the stories the best way we can.Judy Dothard Simmons is an award-winning writer, editor andbroadcaster with national media whose recent work appears inAmerican Legacy Woman, Black Issues Book Review andAfricana.com. She lives in Anniston, Ala.