ABSTRACT
In the wake of Love Canal and Seveso, children from families living near the contaminated areas were thought to be “contagious.” Families and children living in the U.S. FEMA trailer camps after Hurricanes Andrew and Charley were stigmatized regardless of race and class as “FEMA kids.” Refugees and disaster victims alike are typically perceived as being “sickly,” or “diseased,” and having “poor hygiene.” Furthermore, they suffer the stigma of being among the “damned” further marginalizing them and creating a convenient cultural rationalization for their fate.
