A. They have all been suggested as good places for African migrants to return to when they say they are unhappy [and/or unwelcome! Ed.] in Europe and/or North America.
Ed. has been doing some research, and discovered a growing GBTA (Go Back To Africa) movement in the US of A. Just over two centuries ago, the movement was spearheaded [Careful. Ed.] by white people who wanted to send slaves back home. Now it's the descendants of slaves who are raising the GBTA petitions. More about that below, but first let's look at where they could go, and ask Thomas Hardy's question: Can you ever go home again?
Liberia began in the early 19th century as a project of the American Colonization Society (ACS), which believed black people would face better chances for freedom and prosperity in Africa than in the United States. Between 1822 and the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, more than 15,000 freed and free-born black people who faced social and legal oppression in the USA, along with 3198 Afro-Caribbeans, relocated to Liberia.
The Liberian constitution and flag were modelled after those of the United States while its capital was named after ACS supporter President James Monroe. The settlers brought their culture and traditions with them, and an "Americo-Liberian" identity soon became dominant in Libria, with the Liberians descended from the ACS immigrants now regarded as somehow superior, like the descendants of the Mayflower Pilgrims or the FFVs in America.
Liberia's last 40 years have been marked by political instability and horrific violence rooted in ethnic divisions. In April of 1980, a military coup led by Master Sergeant Samuel Doe of the Krahn ethnic group overthrew and killed President William R. Tolbert, Jr, one of the "Americo-Liberians" along with a majority of Tolbert's cabinet and other Americo-Liberian government officials.
After Liberia adopted a new constitution in 1985, Mr Doe was elected president in subsequent elections that were internationally condemned as fraudulent [unlike the American election of 2020. Ed.] There followed a series of coups and counter-coups until in 1989 a rebel group led by Charles Taylor, launched an insurrection in 1989 triggering the First Liberian Civil War.
From 1989 to 1997 around 60,000 to 80,000 Liberians died, and, by 1996, around 700,000 others had been displaced into refugee camps in neighboring countries. A peace deal between warring parties was reached in 1995, leading to Mr Taylor's election as president in 1997. Under his leadership, Liberia became internationally known as a pariah state due to its use of blood diamonds and illegal timber exports to fund the Revolutionary United Front in the Sierra Leone Civil War.
The Second Liberian Civil War began in 1999 when a rebel group based in the northwest of the country, launched an armed insurrection against Charles Taylor. In March 2003, a second rebel group began launching attacks from the southeast. Mr Taylor resigned in August 2003 and went into exile in Nigeria, from where he has been sending letters and emails begging for help in getting his money out. [Ed., you might want to check that last bit.]
In 2005, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, another Americo-Liberian, was elected president, an office she held until 2017, when a former soccer star, George Weah, was sworn in. He promised to fight corruption, reform the economy, combat illiteracy, and improve living conditions. None of this has happened, as yet, but hey, it's Africa.
Walt told you all ye need to know about Rwanda in "Back to Africa with ye!" - BoJo to asylum-seekers", WWW 14/4/22. It is notorious as the site of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi. Members of the Hutu ethnic majority in the east-central African nation murdered as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority.
Started by Hutu nationalists in the capital of Kigali, the genocide spread throughout the country with shocking speed and brutality, as ordinary citizens were incited by local officials and the Hutu Power government to take up arms against their neighbours. A Disunited Nations "peacekeeping" mission, led by a Canadian general, stood idly by.
By the time the Tutsi-led Rwandese Patriotic Front gained control of the country through a military offensive in early July, hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were dead and 2 million refugees (mainly Hutus) fled Rwanda, exacerbating what had already become a full-blown humanitarian crisis.
Yet now the Rwandan government is happy to accept immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers -- even Hutus -- from any African country. They made a deal with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take back some of the 1000s of bogus refugees crossing the English Channel to seek refuge in Old Blighty.
In a speech at the Channel port of Dover, BoJo said, "From today...anyone entering the UK illegally as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1 may now be relocated to Rwanda."
Among the progressive voices decrying the British government's plan to get rid of at least some of the unassimilable black people who have washed up on the shores of the septic ["sceptred", shurely. Ed.] was that of the Washington Post, which is as anti-racist and woke as any newspaper in the world. Yet the same WaPo has now given a goodly amount of op-ed space to an American Woman of Colour named Karen Attiah, for a piece headed "For African Americans tired of U.S. hostility, Ghana is still calling", 18/5/22.
What Ms Appiah suggests is that if African-Americans are fed up with the systemic racism of American society, they might be happier if they move to Ghana! Seriously! I checked the dateline on the article, and it's not April 1st.
The author cites the example of W.E.B. Du Bois, a hero of American Communists, pictured in the article living in Ghana, standing beside his Russian-built Chaika limousine. Just four years after Ghana's independence (before the wheels fell off, see above), Mr Du Bois, then 93, moved to Ghana and became a citizen.
Ms Attiah tells us Mr Du Bois had endured Jim Crow racism, FBI surveillance and the confiscation of his passport, and decided it was enough. He handed White America a scathing resignation notice, in the form of a poem, "Ghana Calls", which is quoted at length.
Ms Attiah concludes that "the truth remains that Black people in the diaspora no longer have to be chained to countries that jail them, kill them and subject them to horrific hate crimes.... To borrow from Maya Angelou, God gave us traveling shoes, and if Black people choose to use them, so be it."
Let me tell you about Ghana. Its history, since gaining independence from Not-so-great Britain in 1967, has rivalled that of Liberial (see above) for coups, civil war, tribal warfare, and barbaric violence. According to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center, roughly three-quarters of Ghana residents want to immigrate to the USA or Europe. That's why they infest dating and romance websites, looking for gullible westerners from whom they can cadge money or a visa or both.
Ghana is plagued by significant human rights issues, according to the US State Department, including "serious restrictions" on free expression and freedom of assembly [Worse than Canada? Ed.], serious government corruption, "lack of investigation of and accountability" for gender-based violence, crimes against LGBTQ2SI+++ people and those with disabilities, and some of "the worst forms of child labor."
Buggers beware! Ghana is one of 69 nations with active anti-sodomy laws and stipulates a prison term of three years for engaging in homosexual sex.
Last year, proposed legislation in the country reiterated a ban on same-sex marriage while prohibiting LGBT indoctrination. [Hmmm. Maybe it's not all bad. Ed.]
The country continues to struggle with economic troubles which were worsened by the recent coronavirus pandemic. Last summer, 1000s of protesters marched in the capital against corruption, poverty and the education system (?) under the slogan "#FixTheCountry". So why does Ms Attiah (and presumably WaPo) recommend it?
Well, it's all part of the ongoing liberal Democratic campaign to portray the US of A as a systemically racist country. Recently, CNN's "political reporter" (read: propagandist) Malika Henderson, reacting to President Brandon's crocodile-tear-filled speech in Buffalo, said that "white Americans have to come to terms with their racism."
Last month, loony left 1619 Project creator and professor Nikole Hannah-Jones said she did not know how anyone could argue that the US was not "founded as a racist country." And in March, another WaPo piece accused many Americans of denying and downplaying rampant racism throughout the country, claiming the killers of Ahmaud Arbery "stand in for millions of Americans" nationwide who believe that skin colour deems one "less worthy."
Walt says, if that's how you feel, you're welcome to follow Ms Attiah's suggestion and Go Back To Africa -- Ghana, Rwanda, Liberia, any of those shitholes. I'll help you pack your bags. Don't slam the door on your way out.
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