Hey! That's a pretty good song there!!!

adg

To the other point... I'm reading what some of you wrote, but I just don't see it - I see eveyone coming out of New Orleans red, black, purple and white being called refugees by the media - you can suggest that it's not the best word, but you can't show me where it's use is based on the color of someone's skin. When someone shows me a clip where white people are called one thing and black people are called something else - I'd call that racist too. So far I haven't seen it. Has anyone here?

Yeah adg, I'll drink to that! Great song Virgil Kane!

Nup,haven't noticed that in what I've seen in the news here in Oz, adg. The only thing I've seen where White or Black have been called somethin' different is in a couple of photos that Capt Zap posted a link to on The Group W Bench Boards. One photo shows two white people waist deep in water with some bread and stuff in their hands and the caption says something about how they found the stuff from a supermarket. Then the next photo shows a young black man, in the same waist deep water, with a black plastic bag and some bread only this time the caption says he looted it from a supermarket. Have a look. I'd be interested to know how you see it. I just wish everyone would get on with helping people and sort out all the blaming stuff when that's all taken care of.
I woke up about 2 A.M. this morning (it's 10pm Tues night here now) and felt kinda depressed about how things are going over there in a country that I love AND in the country here that I love too. Sometimes it feels like the whole world is just getting crazier by the minute. Sure makes me really appreciate what a simple, but wonderful life I have. Take care.

Gotta side with Petie on this one, guys. It may not be a racist term, but calling all the victims "refugees" makes it too easy and convenient to forget what they've been through, and distances those that should be held accountable from the reality.

ADG, your dad probably didn't really like to be called a "dust-bowl refugee". He also penned this:

"To fall like dry leaves to rot on my topsoil
And be called by no name except deportees?"

I think WWG would be on Jackson's team here, although it's all more about class than race.

Maybe I just don't get it. I do my best to see the good in everyone regardless of who they are and what they believe. But why does evertyhing have to be about race?

Mikey, I too was thinking about Deportees, and how different the two situations are.

Here we have Americans becoming refugees in their own land... what a very sad position to be in. They have not been dehumanized by calling them refugees [deportees] but rather they have been shown by the media, the governor and the mayor as living, stuggling, desperate people, with life stories and scared faces [regardless of color, bank accounts, titles] and the tears sliding down the cheeks of their children's faces.

The word "refugee" for me conjures up these same images and a feeling of sadness that only this word can measure up to. I think Arlo said it best... (is that surprising? He does have a way with words, after all)... it's not about race or wealth... and the word "refugee" means exactly what its definition is... taking refuge from something... a disastrous something... and should make each of us thankful for what we have and evoke a major sense of sadness that we just can't do enough for these people.

Here's the catch. These folks are refugees! They are seeking refuge. I don't think it's a slur, but I also give Jesse Jackson credit for asking us to look beyond the label at the real people involved.

Petie, I can appreciate your sentiments, but I don't honestly believe that's what Jackson was doing... what I think he was doing was what he seems to do best... "playing the race card" and it's getting old from where I'm sitting. Despite what he wants to believe, and what he wants all of us to believe, this disaster isn't about race (or even class, for that matter)... it's about a natural phenomenon and a city built below sea level. It's about people (not black people, not white people) being displaced or killed by the storm. There's no place for bringing up a person's color. It's just to incite, once again.

I thought there were enough words – too many words, in fact. But I guess we need to come up with a new word that is politically correct because the focus on one little word might be distracting us. Maybe we actually need four words. One for a person who seeks refuge in times of war. One who seeks refuge from political oppression. One who seeks refuge from religious persecution. One who seeks refuge from environmental destruction. Or – in the interest of word reduction – maybe just two would suffice: “brother" and "sister”.

Help me understand... really. How does calling someone a refugee distance us from their plight? Does calling them evacuees make their suffering any less or any more heartfelt? Relating this disater to the folks being deported and nameless in the song my dad wrote seems from beyond left field. Whatever the word we use, I know we are all on their side, and I guess I'm just wondering and interested in how some of these words conjure up the feelings some of us have. Jesse Jackson suggested that using the term refugee was a racist term - I hope I've put that to rest. But I'm truly interested in what others are thinking these days. You never stop learning something from someone...

Right, Arlo... my point exactly! Thanks

I don't have alot myself. But I had a yard sale and it was just junk. I made $150.00 and donated it to the Red Cross. I took my last paycheck and bought things for the babies and children with it. It did not buy much but I am sending it to them. We have to all try our very best. God Bless the people of New Orleans.

You see why I was hesitant to say anything? It's really easy to start an argument, but very hard to increase understanding.

1- I don't know what Jesse was trying to do.
- I don't think I am in a position to judge, but I think he means well.

2- I have no idea who any of these refugees are.
- It helps to get the names and the stories, but there are so many.

3- It seems that the poorest, blackest folks were affected the most.
- But without statistics, this could be a false impression.

4- I don't know whom to trust, but I know whom not to.
- The media and the government have not demonstrated that they can be relied upon to tell the truth, even when they try to.

5- I'm glad it's not me down there.
- Two years ago Martha and I boarded up our house to keep us and Eric safe from hurricane Isabel. That was a nasty storm with huge damage that crippled Richmond for weeks. I cannot begin to imagine the horror that people have been through on the Gulf Coast. It looks like hell on Earth.

6- What can I do? My powers are limited.
- I'm a photographer and an artist, my ability to affect the situation is extremely limited. I barely feel qualified to have an opinion.

7- What can we learn from this?
- For one thing, people shouldn't live in harm's way if they have a choice. Let's see what else we can figure out so some good can come of all this trouble.

Humbly yours,
Petie

I don't really think those people are worried about what they are being called right now. I think that if it were me my outlook on the situation would be - Call me what the heck you want just feed me and get me safe.

Wow, guys, I feel truly honored that some of my comments on this tragedy are thought of by ADG as "coming from beyond left field." What I meant to convey is that the people who suffered through Katrina should not be lumped under ANY label; not refugees, evacuees, survivors, etc. They are us, i.e., humanity, our brothers and sisters, and labels of any kind beyond that tends to dehumanize them and make it easier to back burner them.

Petie said that one of the things we should learn from this is that people shouldn't live in harm's way if they have a choice. The fact is that one of the main effects of pervasive poverty is that it removes one's choices. It happens that in New Orleans, many of the victims lived not only way below the poverty line, but way below sea level too. In fact, you can pretty much make a graph showing that the income levels in that city were directly proportional to the height above sea level where people lived. Strange, but true!