They tell me I am a (damn) refugee

• In Event: 1207 - Vulnerability, Exclusion, and Belonging among Refugees

Abstract

Drawing on data collected through ongoing long-term ethnographic research (since 2009) about the Liberian refugee community in Staten Island, NY, this presentation shows the contextual complexities that the term “refugee” represents for (Black) refugees. Forced migrants identify as refugees when it leads to international protection and resettlement to the U.S. but, on the other, do not want to be called refugees when the term is not tied to resources and instead is a stigma and reminder of past suffering. Thus, I suggest that the term “refugee” has different meanings and implications depending on its definition and usage. Specifically, I argue that Liberians actively pursued and embraced the blessings that the legal refugee status confers upon individuals, especially when they were displaced in West Africa. This required not only ingenuity on part of those pursuing these coveted status but also that they depicted themselves as vulnerable victims without agency who deserved to be resettled in the U.S. This is in stark contrast to how Liberians, once in the U.S., quickly want to leave the label of “refugee” behind them as it mostly has negative connotations, especially because being Black, Liberians are portrayed as an economic burden by the media and large parts of the society. This paper illustrates how legal refugee status and the international protection it guarantees is not available to all individuals forced from their homes due to war and persecution, but rather is an elusive and highly political status, which is very difficult to obtain.

Author

• Bernadette Ludwig, Wagner College