Posted
on April 12, 2016
This
anniversary is not really about redemption (a sort of clearing of a
debt). Instead, it is an opportunity for Liberians to mourn people
killed in a coup
d'état.
Liberia
is unique among African nations, because it began with a
well-intentioned move to allow freed – formerly enslaved – and
freeborn people of African descent to go to Africa (most for the
first time) and set up a nation based in form on the United States.
There
were definitely some problems with this idea. For one thing, these
people coming to Africa, from America, were surely displacing people
who were living in the area of the planned new nation. You just know
that that had to lead to some problems...
And,
oh, yeah, it really did. Apparently, for more than a century, the
“Americo-Liberians” – the people who were descended from the
people who came from America – dominated the powerful positions in
the government and economy, and they marginalized, stereotyped, and
discriminated against native African peoples.
One
of the largest and most important Americo-Liberian families was the
Tolberts. A man named William R. Tolbert, Jr., was elected to the
House of Representatives and later became Vice President under
William Tubman.
Now
these terms – House of Representatives, President, Vice President –
sound very familiar, but the Liberian government did not operate
exactly like the U.S. government. There was only one political party,
the True Whigs, and rather than having a separation of powers between
the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, the executive
branch was way more powerful. In other words, the president ruled
much more absolutely than does the U.S. president. And they tended to
hold onto that power for life – President Tubman ruled for 27
years. He wasn't replaced by a free election, but rather because he
died!
But
William R. Tolbert, Jr., started to make some changes when he was
president. First, he was one of the few presidents who spoke an
indigenous language, in this case Kpelle. Second, he worked for and
managed to pass a constitutional amendment that barred a president
for serving more than eight years in office. Third, he helped create
a program designed to bring more indigenous people into the
government.
Of
course, many of the conservative elements in the nation hated the
changes Tolbert was making. They accused him of “letting the
peasants into the kitchen,” and they made moves multiple times to
get rid of the amendment limiting presidential terms. Tolbert said in
answer to the complaints: “I will serve my country as long as I
have life. I do not have to be President to do so.”
Still,
many indigenous people thought that the positive changes were
happening too slowly. They were too angry after the decades of being
second class citizens. And on this date in 1980 a small group of
soldiers stormed the executive mansion, killed President Tolbert, 26
other government officials, and later publicly executed 13 cabinet
members. All of these soldiers were indigenous people, and their
leader, Samuel Kanyon Doe, became the new president. He declared that
his new government would be a great thing for the people – he even
called his military regime the People's Redemption Council.
I
bet you already guessed the sad truth – Doe's rule was corrupt,
violent, and full of injustice. Since Doe died, there have been two
civil wars. Since 2005, the nation has been struggling to recover
from all the instability, all the violence, all the death and
destruction.
Like
I said, rather than celebrating Doe's “restoration,” many
Liberians view April 12 as a time to mourn all the people who died in
Doe's coup.
That
was a whole lot of sad. Now enjoy some of the beauty of Liberia:
Also
on this date:
Yuri's
Night (and also
this post)
– aka Cosmonaut Day
National
Library Week in the U.S.
(2016 theme is “Libraries Transform”)
Plan
ahead:
Check out my Pinterest boards for:
And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
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