Electing a Woman President is not Enough
By Phil George
The Perspective
Atlanta, Georgia
March 26, 2007
Human Rights
Few weeks ago, the Hon. Minister of Justice, Frances
Johnson-Morris announced that Sassywood would henceforth
be unlawful. While I applaud her for taking the initiative
to outlaw such injustice, I thought that she might have
gone further by banning Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)
as well. Why didn’t she? It has been medically
proven that FGM poses severe health consequences for
women and it’s darn right cruel. It’s even
worse than Sassywood. I believe it’s disingenuous
for women in this government to advocate human rights
for girls and women in society while turning a blind
eye to FGM. Hon. Minister of Justice, if you believe
in human rights for the “girl child” like
the president like to say, I challenge you to ban this
cruel act or write legislation to ban it. I know some
people will argue that FGM is part of our tradition
(Sande society) and getting rid of it infringes on tradition.
Well, this tradition is wicked – it has no place
in a civilized society so let’s get rid of it
now. Tell the Sande Zoes we can’t do this anymore.
Citizenship
Let’s now turn our focus to the thorny issue of
citizenship. This is one area where our constitution
contradicts our values. In spite of the war, Liberians
are very kind and loving people. We accept everyone
regardless of race, truly in the spirit of “Land
of the Free.” I believe everyone will agree with
me on this point. Interracial marriage is common in
Liberia because we are not a racist people. So why do
we continue to maintain racist provisions in our constitution?
Article 27 (b) is clearly a racist provision and should
be amended. I’m not oblivious to the premise of
this provision but we need to find innovative ways to
accommodate decent people who love our culture and want
to be citizens of our country. It is hypocritical to
expect countries to give us rights that we deny to others
back home. During our civil crisis, thousands of Liberians
were allowed to immigrate to countless countries around
the world, and in some cases given citizenship rights.
Presently thousands of Liberians in the United States are fighting “tooth and nail” to stay in America permanently. I remember how difficult it was to explain to my Caucasian friend that he could come and invest his money in Liberia but he could not own land to build a home because of his race. It is appalling. We need to look to other countries for guidance on this issue. I understand Bahamas have innovative laws that allow foreigners of any race to legally buy and own land in that country. We could consult with them to learn from their experience.
Dual Citizenship
The saying goes, “Once a Liberian, forever a Liberian.”
Well, this phrase is all good but it gets more complicated
when viewed in the context of law. To my knowledge Liberian
law does not allow dual citizenship, thus the preceding
phrase is inconsequential if one has attained citizenship
of another country. Here is another ridiculous law that
must be amended because Liberia needs all its children
back home, especially now that the country must be rebuild.
This law is definitely against the interest of Liberian
expatriates because by law one is no longer a Liberian
citizen. I need not explain the social and political
consequences here for you know its repercussions. This
is unacceptable and must change soon to restore our
natural rights as citizens. We cannot afford to push
this vital issue under the rug because it is not in
the best interest of the country. Some Liberians deal
with the issue by keeping secret their true status and
this is equally appalling. Why should one be ashamed
of ones identity? As Liberian immigrants in a foreign
land, sometimes one had to conceal his/her true status
to avoid immigration troubles. Do we now expect to repeat
this ordeal back in our homeland?
For selfish political reasons it might not be preponderant of the current legislature to initiate legislation in this regard because it would create political competition in the next election cycle. Thus concerted effort must be made to enact legislation on this very important issue. Also, at the next constitutional convention, please don’t invite Dr. Amos Sawyer, et al because he represents one of the bigoted architects of this document in 1986.
Phil George: Pgeorge7@cox.net
© 2007 by The Perspective
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