WAHSINGTON D.C. - There's been a big hullabaloo in recent days concerning what to call victims of Hurricane Katrina who have had to leave their homes. Experts from all over the country have been chiming in.
Reverend Jesse Jackson: The term refugee is racist language. We are not refugees. We are American citizens.
Media Critic, Kelly Crossley: When you think about a refugee, what comes to mind are those people walking across borders in the Sudan. Walking across Somalia. You see these persons as people of color, without a home, carrying everything they own in one bag.
President of Refugee International, Kenneth Bacon: There are hundreds of thousands of refugees in the United States who don't fit any racial pattern. These are people who are fleeing for their lives, fleeing for freedom, trying to find a better life for themselves and their children. Many of these people have great dignity. That's what the term refugee means to me.
In fact, the only ones not asked what they should be called have been the victims themselves, and here's why. When asked what he should be called, a man who was walking down the Interstate, heading out of New Orleans with only the clothes on his back replied, "What the fuck are you talking about? Call me whatever the hell you want. I just lost my wife, my home, my job, and all my stuff. You gotta be kidding me with this 'What should I be called' shit! Call me a damned cab! Call me a Wet-Tired-Homeless-Hungry-Pissed Off-uee. In fact, good luck calling me in the first place cuz I ain't got a phone. Bunch a damned fools."