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Reemergence of the Americo-Liberian Hegemony, an Addendum - Facing Theodore T. Hodge and Others
Sep 18, 2007
Varfley A. Dolleh
 Introduction:
One of the dialectics of the Political profession is divergent view, which makes the act more peculiar unlike others. In short, people disagree in order to agree, with the ongoing subject under discussion being of no exception, making one to wonder why some with descending view regarding cardinal elements in my intellectual depiction of the dark history of the “Americo-Liberian Hegemony” got exasperated leading to insults and threats which are not the norms of the civilized world. Unlike others, I hail the action of Mr. Theodore T. Hodge in unearthing his reality check on the subject matter making it more interesting. While it is true that I respect his views, but I am of the opinion that his expositions are far from the truth necessitating an immediate rebuttal to him and others so that sanity will prevail over falsehood.
Mere Intellectual Exercise:
I learned in one of my graduate classes in political science, that the viability and potentiality of any nation is contingent upon the intellectual ability of its citizenry, especially, the young generation. This presupposes the need to enhance the awareness and consciousness movement so that an enlightened society is built. In other words, an informed mind is equated to development and prosperity. What will be wrong with simply unearthing what I think are the shortcomings of the present dispensation in Liberia? I thought people should be happy that we are venting out our dislikes through the might of the pen and not gun. What is wrong with telling our compatriots how polarize is the Ellen Government? What is wrong with calling some one an Americo-Liberian or Congo? Is it not true that people have segmented themselves under that classification? What the big deal affirming what they have been saying over the years? And what the wrong with speaking out my mind in order to effect change? This is not rebelliousness or subversive activity. It is a shame that people have become blind, death and dumb to reality and they must be rescue in order to avoid insanity. Listen, I am not going to give in to this sheer baloney. I have always been told “Mandingo”. Should that make me mad? No, I am proud of being a hard-core Mandingo man. What a big deal if some one calls some one a Kpelleh man, that shouldn’t hurt him either. People have made reference to the ills of the Samuel Doe Regime without being mindful to the sentiment of the Krahn people. Please, let there be equity in the treatment of every Liberian. But, the only problem is the stigma associated with the issue of Americo-Liberian.
Thank to Uncle Sam that we all came to America to achieve the American dream which greatly helped us to dichotomize the “Black Americans and the Congos or Settlers”. In fact, we were so naive in Liberia blindly bundling all of them as being the same. But, as I became grounded I realized how segmented they were. Moreover, I got to realize unlike the perception those days, that the indigenous black Americans don’t even know who are the Americo-Liberians or Congau. My first impression was to get vex with myself why did we allow these people to use us over the century? I didn’t even know that they were living on handouts in Maryland, Boston, NY, Minnesota, Philadelphia, among other areas in America. It is only now that I got to know that we are all equal under the US Law. I wonder why we didn’t resist them initially. The time has come to form an alliance and stand as a force to reckon with. I stand by everything I said in my publication. If any one thinks I am wrong, let that person challenge me through the same medium. Come up with an alternative view to what I am saying like Mr. Hodge did, so that we will expand the argument. This is my request from you as intellectuals. It is a shame that a native guy is writing something and no one dare to counter attack, only gossip in the corner and calling midnight to insult me. I want to hear a divergent opinion on the issue if you really feel that I am off track. This is the challenge to all my critics or detractors. The ball is now in your court. Speak out now or forever hold your peace.
Dissecting the Reality Check of Mr. Hodge:
Reality Check One:
Reading the “Reality Check of Mr. Hodge on the Americo-Liberian Hegemony, he writes thus, “Americo-Liberians became the ruling class upon Liberia’s Independence. But being a small portion of the general population, they had to boost their standings by forming a coalition of a privileged class.” This statement is an affirmation of the institutionalization of class system and despicable nourishment of tyranny. Mr. Hodge writes further, “This elite ruling class eventually included members of the indigenous tribes of Liberia, especially, those of the coastal tribes, to whom assimilation seemed a safe alternative after brief skirmishes and outright hostility”. Again, it is another confirmation that indeed, the system was a diabolical machination to incorporate the natives in a heinous establishment that was foreign to them against their will. You can see the false attachment of settler name, given to indigenous against their will. “That was the trend of the day, given the indigenous foreign names forcibly, in order to be accepted”, says Dr. Lauren Shatukar, a professor of history and international politics in the US. From the points mentions supra, you can see the tangibility in what we said unlike my brother, frantically fighting to safe face for the Americo-Liberian oligarchy.
Momoh Dudu: “Well over 60 percent of her cabinet and cabinet level positions are manned by the Americos who, according to our last census, make up only 5 percent of the population.”
Here's a sample:
Chief Justice .............................................Johnny Lewis
Minister of State.........................................Edward McClain
Minister of Rural Development.................. E.C. Jones
Minister of Foreign Affairs..........................Olubanke King
Minister of Justice.......................................Philip Banks
Minister of Commerce.................................Frances Johnson Morris
Minister of Lands and Mines.......................Eugene Shannon
Minister of Internal Affairs.........................Ambulai Johnson
Minster of Planning...................................Toga McIntosh
Governor of the Central Bank.....................John Mills Jones
National Investment Commission...............Richard Tolbert
National Port Authority..............................George Tubman
Liberia Telecommunications Corporation...Charles Roberts
Liberia Petroleum Refining Company...........Harry Greaves
Forestry Development Authority..................John T. Woods
Roberts International Airport......................Abraham Simmons
National Housing Authority........................Charles Harris
Civil Service Agency...................................C. William Allen
Liberia Civil Aviation Authority...................Richelieu Williams
Liberia National Lotteries...........................Michael Wiles
Liberia Broadcasting System......................Charles Snetter
Bureau of Maritime Affairs........................John Stewart ("wanted by DC authorities")
Permanent Representative to UN..............Nathaniel Barnes
Board of Governors, National Bank of Liberia
J. Mills Jones ======== Chairman - Executive Governor
David K. Vinton==========Member
John G. Bestman=========Member
George H. Gooding---=======Member
Betty J. Saway============Member
AMERICO-LIBERIA/ NATIVE LIBERIAN DISPARITIES IN THE ELLEN GOVERNMENT
Reality Check Two:
In his desperate attempts to undo history and reduce the ongoing agony of the Americo-Liberians hegemony, he again, pens thus, “Before the 1980, it was a commonly held fallacy to observe that there were two group of people in Liberia—the Americo-Liberians, and the natives indigenous Liberians. One led and enjoys all the privileges and the other was kept in subjugation. On the face of it, that fallacy seemed so true it was accepted without further analyses. But we have since come to realize how over-simplistic and misleading that theory was”. He went further by asking this question, “Have we learned any thing since April 12, 1980? Probably, Mr. Hodge would have done himself good, if he had maintain his silence, than to open a Pandora box that would greatly embarrass the past of his genealogy. Again, it is an affirmation that we had diabolical germination of class system like in South Africa. I am happy that he is alluding to the fact under the pretext that it was a fallacy. I understand where he is driving at when he mentions, whether or not we learn any thing? Yes, indeed, we learned that it was a justifiable action in overthrowing the autocratic rule of the Americo-Liberian Hegemony. Indeed, we learned that late is better than never. We learned that it was long overdue in saying no to the Americo-Liberian Hegemony. We learned that indeed, we had gained our freedom, and never again, will we surrender amidst, discrimination, suppression, subjugation, and the enslavement of the indigenous.
Reality Check Three:
Belaboring the issue further, he elucidates, “The indigenous soldiers that promised to lift the oppressed masses to redemption actually made mattes worse”. Continuing further, “There was no redemption of any body; as a matter of fact, the Country went from one senseless civil war to another killing over 250,000 persons”. I pity the brother condition in trying to shed crocodile tears for the death of the indigenous. It is an affront to the indigenous that this lay Congo boy would try to refute history. In fact, it is where the concept of “political relativism” comes in. What determines redemption and what yardsticks do one use? What is considered freedom to Mr. Mawolo Yakapawolo may be considered anarchy to Mr. John Tubman. You see where he is coming from; he is polarized, blind, deaf and dumb to reality. We applaud the heroic stance of the gallant men in ousting the autocratic rule of the Americo-Liberians. That was redemption for us the natives. And since then, we have not ceased to resist which is still being manifested through this writing and the consciousness drive we have initiated for this generation and posterity yet unborn. Never again will we go back to the past. There may be resemblance of the past deeds of the Americo-Liberians, as it is manifested in the Ellen led government, but not to the extent of the pre-1980 epoch.
Reality Check Four:
In continuation of his intellectual outburst, here he goes, “The vast majority of those killed were indigenous Liberian; with the Krahns killing the Gios and vice versa; the Krahn killed the Mandingoes vice versa among others”. You I correct, I don’t blame you, but our people that allowed your parents to killed our people. It is an open secret that it was in realization of the oath to the spirits of the late Tolbert and his officials killed by the indigenous that war was exported back to the motherland to avenge the killing. Who are those that formed the NPFL? Was it not the Association for Constitutional Democracy in Liberia (ACDL) that formed the NPFL? How did Charles Taylor escape from the maximum State Prison in Boston MA? It is a joke for one to think that some one can easily escape from a jail in the US, especially, a State plenipotentiary. Who are the incorporators of the ACDL and the NPFL? It was the like of Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Amos Sawyer, and H. Boima Fambullah, Harry Grieves and the likes that formed the NPFL. The only irony is, they were instrumental in using indigenous against themselves. I concord with you, in that many of you and your likes were in the USA, while the indigenous were killing each other’s.
This action of the Americo-Liberians, aborted the developmental progression of the motherland plunging it in to anarchy so that they can revert to power as it is today.
What a tragedy and how long will this continue? This is the one of the reasons why we have embarked upon this consciousness move to help the natives develop the political will in being at peace with their selves in the new Liberia.
Reality Check Five:
Not being satiated in venting out his anger he went on, “Mr. Dolleh quotes Momoh Dudu: well over 60 percent of her cabinet level positions are manned by the Americos, who according to our last census, make up only 5 percent of the population; upon closer scrutiny, some of those on the list actually hail from various sectors of the indigenous population. The gentleman is under the illusion that if one sports a Western surname, he or she must be an Americo-Liberian”. Listen, it must be understood, that the whole concept of Americo-Liberian is a class system. Anyone can join the rank and file of the abominable arrangement. The moments you subscribes to the deeds of those with the hearts and minds to suppress, humiliate, discriminate, subjugate, criminalized demonized the society among others with all of the tenants, then you are an Americo-Liberian. It is an open secret that people were forced to change their names in order to be accepted. It was glory to be called names like, “Rudolph Yakapawolo Tubman, Johnson Kollie Tubman, Grevies Yanqua Sherman, Mary Seata Tolbert. This manifest the how the people were forced to adopt name against their will in order to be accepted or for employment in Government. Up to present, many indigenous have changed their identities for fear of being look down upon in the society. In fact, they make you to loose you self-esteem as though you are sub-class citizen. What nonsense. I call on the indigenous never to change your names in order to please any Jones, Sherman, Cooper or Tubman. You would never see them caring name like, Kollie Charles Ceaser, or Quiowonpia Henry Pearson. What the wrong with us that we must assimilate with them as Mr. Hodge said negatively?
Reality Check Six:
Manifesting his subjectivity, Mr. Hodge descends further, “The Americo-Liberians clan has expanded into a social class too expensive to ignore whose members must be welcomed in the new dispensation.” This issue can no longer be over emphasized, what we have said before, and are being said again, is that we need equity in the socio-economic and political formation of our Country. This is the cardinal and most tangible message. We have no intention to marginalize any sub -grouping of the community. You don’t have to worry. In fact, we all have kids that are American Citizens by virtue of birth in the USA, but that don’t give them the latitude to join the demonic entity in Liberia or entertain themselves with this false sense of glory that is short live and abominable. That is a check of your reality check.
Reality Check Seven:
Thanks for concurring that some of the President appointees have outlives their usefulness, while others are being misplaced in positions surreptitiously by some kitchen cabinets of the President. Moreover, what we are saying is that we should be able to uphold the spirit of inclusiveness and pragmatism in the placement of officials. More besides, let the demographic configuration of the various element of the society be taken in to consideration in appointing officials. The President must be able to face the reality of our situation.
Reality Check Eight:
I understand your fear for hosting a conference of the natives in shifting a common course of action for the future. I think in as much we understand your frustration and your perturbation, but it is too late. Apart, we don’t need your acquiescence in carrying on this Herculean task. There can be no turning back. In fact, we intend to constitute a “Consultative Committee” any time from now to start working on the concept paper for the conference among others.
Few Examples of Selective Treatment:
Morris Dukuly:
Reading a piece of Rodney Sieh on the “Front Page” Web site he sited the inclusion of Alhaji’s men on the security detail of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as one of the reasons for the removal of Morris Dukuly as “Chief of Staff” of the President. Although, I respect the view, but beg to differ. One thing he said which was correct was that he effectively managed the campaign of the President. Let it be understood that Morris Dukuly is an effective and hardworking individual with an enviable credentials. Apart, he won the admiration of the President up to the time when the few Americo-Liberians in the inner circle of the President decided to change the course. Having failed to achieve their desire goal, one of the first thing they decided to do was to conspire against this indigenous son of the soil who happen to be a Mandingo, lied on him that he was the mastermind behind the fire disaster at the “Executive Mansion”. It was an open conspiracy, because the Americo-Liberians had decided not to heed to the dictates of a countryman like Morris Dukuly. Apart, they wouldn’t seek his consent before seeing the President. More besides, those guys that Mr. Sieh’s referred to as Alhaji’s man, are in fact volunteers that were brought by Madam Ashia Konneh during the heat of the marriage between her and the President. These people protected the President during the heat of the campaign without any problem. Is it only now that they have become security threats in that they are Mandingoes? It is a shame.
John Morlu:
As Chairman of the “House Standing Committee on Maritime,” for four years, I was opportune to have greatly interacted with John Morlu and Mr. Stewart respectively, commending considerable respect for the both of them. Unlike, Mr. Morlu, Mr. Stewart and my self interacted mainly when we attended the “IOM Conferences” in Switzerland among others. I don’t know what may have led to the sudden change of assignment for the both men. But, from a reliable source, there has been in house lobbying on behalf of Mr. Stewart by the Deputy Minister of Finance Ms. Tamba for the placement of her cousin to this prestigious position. Again, it wasn’t based on any just reasoning. What matters was ensuring that an Americo-Liberian got a job occupied by an indigenous. The kitchen cabinet of the President failed to do a background check, nor think about the rational or repercussion regarding the spirit of inclusiveness. As it is now the President has been placed in a predicament, leading to reversing her earlier decision, at the same time out rightly firing Mr. Stewart from the new position and the old one as one of the deputy’s commissioners.
Musa Bility:
Reading the diatribe of one Austin William, he attacked me for questioning the rational of Musa’s new job. Let it be understood that it is the President prerogative to effect changes in her government at any time when she wishes. But, at the same time the President is subject to Public scrutiny when people feel that there are short coming. Apart, Musa’s represents a vibrant constituency that is part of the whole of the set. And if we were to build an effective and vibrant Government everyone should be seen as represented as possible.
Although, not substantiated, we are told that the present Managing Director, Hon. Tubman, who happen to be an Americo-Liberian had vowed not to allow an indigenous, especially, a Mandingo man to be his immediate boss. As a result it was agreed to have Musa Bility removed and replace with an Americo-Liberian as his replacement.
Finally:
We want to commend all of you for your critical comments in the wake of the unfolding development. It must be noted that this is a healthy move intended to help foster our young democracy. At the same time, we will do every thing to address some of the concerns as necessary. We wish to affirm that we stand by our statistics regarding the present appointment in government. More besides, we intend to update you with the numerical configuration of the appointees.
As usual, we want to hear your thoughts—Varfley1@yahoo.com or (215)-666-2506 PA USA All rights reserved
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