What shall we call ourselves, we 21st century wanderers, members of arguably the most hubristic society in modern times, suddenly exiled en masse by force of nature?
Diaspora n. 1: the body of Jews (or Jewish communities) outside Palestine or modern Israel 2: the dispersion of the Jews outside Israel; from the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 587-86 BC when they were exiled to Babylonia up to the present time 3: the dispersion or spreading of something that was originally localized (as a people or language or culture) WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
The "Indian removal" carried out by the U.S. government in the mid-19th century, which uprooted established Native American cultures (among them some of my ancestors) and moved them elsewhere, is known as the "trail of tears". During the 20th century, wars, famine, and political, religious, and ethnic oppression have resulted in substantial refugee movements around the globe.
I remember a newspaper headline from Day 7 or so of the Katrina Diaspora, describing what was going on with the evacuees from the Gulf Coast and New Orleans (I don’t recall which paper it was, since when you're functioning on adrenaline you don't worry about unnecessary details, although I know that I was in Dallas, TX, at the time):
ROAD TO ANYWHERE
Homeless persons, vagabonds, gypsies, expatriates, migrants, refugees, pioneers?
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