Liberia: The House at Sugar Beach

Liberia is fascinating. The country was founded by Americans and is the only American colonial nation where resettlement was involved – there was never an effort to encourage Americans to move to the Philippines or Puerto Rico. Liberia (literally, “Land of Freedom”) was founded in 1822 by American abolitionists who thought it would be great to move freed slaves back to Africa. The land was carved out of the Slave Coast, especially Sierra Leone. Like so many things, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

The new settlers were better educated, more affluent (thanks in part to funds from the abolitionists), and lighter skinned than the locals. Known as Congo People, because they arrived via the Congo River, they soon placed themselves in charge of the government and the economy. Helene Cooper, author of The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood, is the descendent of the nation’s founders, and she had a privileged childhood: waterfront mansion; international school education; relatives in high government positions; regular travel to Europe and the United States. At one point, her parents decide that she needed more siblings, so they took in a local child, Eunice, to raise as a foster child. This wasn’t unusual in Liberia, apparently; for Eunice’s family, it was an opportunity for their daughter to get a good education and pick up social connections that she would not otherwise obtain.

The locals, known as Country People, were never thrilled about the Congo People. They resented the affluence and the opportunities denied to them. The Congo People denied them the vote, and limited their participation in the upper ranks of commercial life. Helene Cooper knew that she was part of the elite, but she didn’t realize how much tension there was between the two groups until her 14th birthday, when her uncle, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was executed as part of the 1980 government overthrow led by Samuel Doe. Doe himself was overthrown in 1989 by Charles Taylor.

Cooper’s family escapes to the United States, but Eunice stays behind. And that gap becomes the centerpiece of a riveting story.

In 2005, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected president of Liberia and began a transition to democracy.  It’s hard, because the country’s infrastructure and economy have been destroyed by years of war. Johnson Sirleaf had served in the government before the coup (one of the few Country People to do so, although her mother had been raised in a Congo family, as with Eunice) and left the country in 1980. She took jobs with the World Bank, Citibank, and the United Nations before running for office in Liberia. She has received the Nobel Peace Prize for her work.

Johnson Sirleaf has done well in a difficult position. The next stage is managing her succession. If Liberia can maintain its democracy and stability, it could become a fast-growing market. It won’t be easy, though.