Liberian American

Liberian Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of full or partial Liberian ancestry. This can include Liberians who are descendants of Americo-Liberian people in America. The first wave of Liberians to the United States, after the slavery period, was after of the First Liberian Civil War in the 1990s and, then, after the Second Liberian Civil War in the early 2000s.

An estimated 100,000 Liberians live in the U.S. as of this time. The diplomatic relationship between Liberia and the USA goes back over 200 years to Liberia's foundation by returning African slaves freed by abolitionist societies which set aside land for the freedmen and paved the way to its independence.

History

The first Liberians in the United States

The first people that emigrated to the United States from the regions that currently form Liberia were slaves imported between the 17th and 19th centuries. Thus, many individuals can trace backgrounds to groups such as the Kpelle, Kru, Gola, and, perhaps, the Gio, Grebo, Bassa, Vai and Mandingo. Many of them were imported by Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia planters.Transatlantic linkage: The Gullah/Geechee-Sierra Leone Connection
Retrieved December 29, 2011, to 20:51 pm. The children of some of these slaves gained some notability in the United States, as was the case of abolitionist, journalist, physician, and writer Martin Delany (1812 – 1885), arguably the first proponent of American black nationalism and the first African-American field officer in the United States Army during the American Civil War. Frank A. Rollins, ''Life and Public Services of Martin R. Delany''
1883, reprint 1969, Arno Press, pp. 14-17, accessed 21 February 2011

Between 1822 and the second half of the 19th century, especially with the abolition of slavery in the United States in the 1860s, many slaves returned to Africa, settling in West Africa and founding Liberia (inhabiting regions already populated). Liberian migration to the United States did not resume again until the first half of the 20th century when the first Liberians went to the United States. However, only several hundred of Liberians immigrated to the United States, a very small number compared with the people who emigrated from Europe, Asia and Latin America. In the 1950s and 1960s only a few hundred Liberian migrated to the United States (232 and 569 respectively). It was not until the 1970s when there was a considerable immigration from Liberia, which amounted to 2081 people. This low immigration was due to the fact that Liberia was one of the most stable democracies and prosperous economies in Africa up until the military coup in 1980.

First Liberian Civil War

During the 20th century few Liberian emigrated to United States; most who did were students.Encyclopedia of Chicago: Liverians in Chicago
Posted by Tracy N. Poe. Retrieved September 4, 2012, to 1:10 pm. However, during the First Liberian Civil War (1989–96), thousands of Liberians emigrated to the United States. From 1990 through 1997, the INS reported that 13,458 Liberians fled to the United States and lived there permanently. During these years, there were also tens of thousands who sought temporary refuge in the United States. In 1991 alone, the INS guaranteed Temporary Protective Status (TPS) to approximately 9,000 Liberians in the United States.
After the war, another 6,000 Liberians moved to Providence, Rhode Island. About 10,000 other Liberians settled across the U.S. and most of them decided to stay after the war ended. Although the INS revoked the TPS status in 1997 following national elections in Liberia, many of these Liberian Americans refused return to Liberia. In 1999, the U.S. Congress decided to give the Liberian refugees permanent status in the United States.

Second Liberian Civil War

After the Second Liberian Civil War (1999-2003), large numbers of Liberians settled in Rhode Island, Staten Island, Philadelphia, Virginia, Georgia and Minnesota. By 2010, Liberians established another sizable community in California, primarily in West Los Angeles and the Bay Area. (San Francisco and Oakland)

Demography

Liberian American organizations estimate there are between 250,000 and 500,000 Liberians living in the United States. This figure includes Liberian residents that have a temporary status, and American of Liberian descent.

As of 2017, an estimated 4,700 Liberian-Americans live in the Fargo, North Dakota area. Other cities with large Liberian populations include Brooklyn Park, MN, Minneapolis, MN, St. Paul, MN, Brooklyn Center, MN Providence, RI, Pawtucket, RI, Staten Island, NY, the Bronx, NY. Newark, NJ

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