A Plea To End State-Endorsed Racism In Liberia

Published: 16/Aug/2017
Source: Front Page Africa (Monrovia)

Opinion by Wynfred Russell

The framers of our Constitution knew that time could blind us to certain truths and later generation can see the laws once thought necessary can only serve to oppress. It is the case with the ‘Nationality Clause’ in the Liberian Constitution, the 6,000-pound elephant in the room.

Liberia’s Nationality Laws based on its original 1847 Constitution and included in subsequent revisions are profoundly discriminatory, which requires being black is the only prerequisite for becoming a citizen.

Nationality is conferred solely based on race. Under the current constitution, only persons of Negroid origins can obtain citizenship.

It is wrong! It is archaic! It is hypocritical, especially when Liberians are in the US, Canada, and other majority-white countries demanding and gaining citizenship of those countries. One of the great intellectual and moral epiphanies of the modern era is the realization that human racial diversity is a tremendous asset.

Read further: http://www.frontpageafricaonline.com/index.php/op-ed/5126-a-plea-to-end-state-endorsed-racism-in-liberia

Themes: Discrimination, Ethnic/Racial/Religious, Dual Nationality
Regions: Liberia
Year: 2017