Opinion by Wynfred Russell<\/p>\n
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 \u2018Nationality Clause\u2019 in the Liberian Constitution, the 6,000-pound elephant in the room.<\/p>\n
Liberia\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Nationality is conferred solely based on race. Under the current constitution, only persons of Negroid origins can obtain citizenship.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n