We're closer than we think

            While in her article Powell states there are many inherent differences between those affected by Hurricane Katrina and refugees, such as the Lost Boys or families such as Mawi Asgedom’s, who escaped Sudan and Ethiopia for American freedom, I also believe there are many more similarities that she did not exactly hit on. While under the UNHCR’s definitive structures of defining a refugees status, Katrina victims fell under Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and those like Mawi, Deng, and the Lost Boys, are, of course, refugees, I believe that they are much closer than they seem. While victims of Hurricane Katrina (and Rita) still remain in the United States, what many people don’t realize is that a vast majority of “refugees” in our definition actually never leave where they are to come to the United States. While the stories in mass media we read about in our everyday lives revolve around those who have caught the break and have the opportunity to come and live in America (God Grew Tired of Us, Of Beetles and Angles, What is the What, etc.) a much larger portion of the refugees in the world are those left back in the countries the authors of our stories left. In saying this, the victims of natural disasters here in the US are more similar to the African refugees than they think. While yes, they are not moved to a different, adjacent country, but they are forced to move somewhere they do not feel is “home” by some outside force that they had no choice in fighting against, they simply left because it was what would keep them alive.

Overall, I feel that in reading this article, I was able to get a deeper feel on the refugee’s experience in not coming to America. While we can all make connections to those that come to the United States (we’ve been drowned in the stories of refugees and immigrants in their struggle to survive in American society for decades) I haven’t really been able to make a concrete connection to those that remain in Africa. Yes, I can read about them in books, but it just doesn’t have that personal feeling. This is where I believe the stories of those effected by hurricanes and other natural disasters in America bring the closest feeling to those of refugees, we just need to open up our horizons and see the striking similarities.