Monrovia \u2013 The Head of the Independent National Commission on Human Rights (INCHR) and retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia Cllr. Gladys K. Johnson has defended the \u201cNegro Clause\u201d in the Liberian constitution, which forbids white people from gaining citizenship in Liberia.<\/p>\n
Giving her personal opinion Wednesday on several provisions of the Liberian constitution at a public interactive forum organized by the Liberia Media for Democratic Initiative, former Associate Justice Johnson dissected Article 27b of the Liberian Constitution which addresses the controversial citizenship issue. Former Associate Justice Johnson agreed that only people of Negro decent should be citizens and noted that any attempt to open up citizenship widely would render most Liberians as third class citizens.<\/p>\n
Continued Justice Johnson: \u201cI am only saying that before you jump up and say that let\u2019s remove this whole clause and open up, you must know how to open up, because if you open up too wide in this your own country, you will become third class citizens. So if we are accused of being racist, let\u2019s accept it, than to be made foreigners or nonentities in our own country\u201d.<\/p>\n