Liberia - The disowned 51st State of America

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If there is one thing that is a blight in the history of the United States of America it is the established Liberated colony that had been established for the Freed Slaves after the war.

Lets not be in denial: Have a look at this flag!
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Also the name of the capital of the country : Monrovia is named after former American president James Monroe

Obviously the Americans have swept this under the carpet

This continues, America supported a guy who was American Educated (Charles Taylor) but he was a monster.
 
If there is one thing that is a blight in the history of the United States of America it is the established Liberated colony that had been established for the Freed Slaves after the war.

Oh, I'd say there are a good number of things that are a blight on our history. Definitely more than one.

And I have to be honest, I was unaware of the origins of Liberia. Whether it's because I learned it and just had forgotten it, or whether it was never mentioned in my history courses, I can't say.
 
Obviously the Americans have swept this under the carpet

Not really. What's to say about it? Back then many were unsure if blacks would ever be able to be integrated into society because of racial prejudices (including Abraham Lincoln). This was a very legitimate concern, seeing as a 5 year war had just been fought over the issue as to whether or not you could own a black person. So a private American organization helped Blacks found and colonize Liberia hoping for better freedom and equality for African Americans. Some people wanted all Blacks to go there, but no one was forced to. Let's face it, it really sucked to be Black in America for a very long time after the Civil War.


As far as blights in American history go, this is a pretty small one.
 
Check out the Vice mini documentary about Liberia on their website. I posted it here about a year ago, but no one seemed interested. It's a fascinating watch
 
People argue what an influence worldwide african americans have across the world in terms of being truly outstanding sportsmen (Michael jordan, the Williams sisters, Lebron james) , and massive mainstream entertainers such as Will smith, Rihanna (ok shes not american, but still).

You have to look at the flipside that there is actually Americo-African, (more technically correct term of Americo-Liberians). And its not such a great thing on the flipside :( The names of the Liberians are all British sounding in origin, such as Julius Johnson, John Smith etc etc

The only real Liberian person of note is George Weah, he ran for presidency in Liberia.

Imagine if Weah became president of Liberia? What wouldve happened had another civil war, coupled with genocide broke out in Liberia if he was president. It can happen in a place like that
 
A quick consultation of Wikipedia (I know, not gospel, but in this case I think I can trust them) shows that its origins have not that much to do with the US Civil War, and that it was established much, much earlier. Which given a city named after President Monroe, should come as little surprise.

I can't quite see how it is a blight. Not sure what that even means, in context. Oh, I get that it's perhaps problematic for a bunch of Americanised Africans to recolonise a section of the old continent, but given the times and the circumstances...

Their problems since appear to stem from a rigid, ossified and insular politics (a century of True Whig Party dominance? Ho boy).
 
People argue what an influence worldwide african americans have across the world in terms of being truly outstanding sportsmen (Michael jordan, the Williams sisters, Lebron james) , and massive mainstream entertainers such as Will smith, Rihanna (ok shes not american, but still).

You have to look at the flipside that there is actually Americo-African, (more technically correct term of Americo-Liberians). And its not such a great thing on the flipside :( The names of the Liberians are all British sounding in origin, such as Julius Johnson, John Smith etc etc

What does this have to do with anything... What point are you trying to make?

You listed 5 people out of 42 million black people in the U.S. Liberia has 3 million people.

I'm not sure you're really communicating your point very well.
 
You have to look at the flipside that there is actually Americo-African, (more technically correct term of Americo-Liberians). And its not such a great thing on the flipside :( The names of the Liberians are all British sounding in origin, such as Julius Johnson, John Smith etc etc

The only real Liberian person of note is George Weah, he ran for presidency in Liberia.

Imagine if Weah became president of Liberia? What wouldve happened had another civil war, coupled with genocide broke out in Liberia if he was president. It can happen in a place like that
George Weah isn't Americo-Liberian. Only 2.5% of Liberians are.

I don't understand what aspect of Liberia you're seeking to discuss. What exactly are you calling a "blight"? That some 19th-century Americans preferred to encourage freed slaves to "go back to Africa" rather than assimilating them--is that the "blight"...? Or is the "blight" that achieving that project involved colonizing parts of Africa...? Or is the "blight" that the descendants of those freed slaves chose to monopolize political power in Liberia for more than 130 years after declaring independence...? (Neighboring Sierra Leone was colonized by Britain for similar purposes--i.e., as a place to dump freed slaves whom they didn't wish to assimilate into white colonies--do you consider Sierra Leone a "blight on the history of the UK"?) Or is the "blight" that Liberia, like much of sub-Saharan Africa, is poor and burdened with corruption, internal ethnic divisions, and armed insurgencies, whereas the US is quite wealthy and stable...?

As for Charles Taylor, he was hardly "supported" by the US--in response to his election (which Washington declared illegitimate), US financial and military aid to Liberia were sharply reduced, and a US travel ban was maintained on all Taylor administration officials. In fact, Taylor's last act as president was to appear on Liberian national TV ranting about how the Bush administration was trying to run him out of the country (which indeed they were).
 
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