Who's Afraid of Dr. Fahnbulleh
By Renford E. Walsh

Teacha Mike was white, blonde and blue-eyed when he went to Sarbo to teach. But President William Tubman’s motorcade sped through the town where Mike was posted. Mike didn’t think it was such a big deal that  the president of the nation would be driving by. But he was assured that Tubman would stop and take a look at what they were doing in Sarbo Sweke – preparing kids for the National Examination and life.

What Tubman’s motorcade left behind was a cloud of dust that latter settled on the village, blending Teacha Mike with the rest. Angry, but philosophical, Teacha Mike would later write that "No matter what our colors when you came, we left with the same color." That would be dust brown, hence "Dusty Mike." It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.

Teacha Mike asked for a debate between Dr. H. Boima Fahnbulleh Jr. and me in a structured forum so that the discussion would not degenerate to name-calling. This is why Renford E. Walsh is examining Dr. Fahnbulleh’s credentials.

It will be easier to list those who have not endured Walsh’s attacks than those he has gone after. But we take comfort in the fact that he’ll go an extra mile to get the truth. But what he charges you per mile is worth asking whether you can really afford him. Even so, it is not up to any one of us whether or not Walsh should be a participant in any discussion. So he’s here – for now, for my benefit.

Walsh has asked for my patience while he matures into the role of a critic who will not leave a lot of bruises. I think I’ll wait. That’s not asking for much – if you are Walsh.

Let’s get serious here and note the boundaries. There is a difference between Walsh talking about affirmative action to improve the lot of the majority and Tarty Teh talking about life in Pallipo. One relies on theoretical solutions to the problem via analysis of population data, the other draws from practical unenviable experience which cannot be duplicated by everyone. Together, both can make contributions to understanding how we got here and what we need to do to move ahead. No matter how much I acknowledge the pain of persons like Tarty Teh, I will not dare to pretend to understand their struggle more than they do. All I can do is imagine and suggest solutions to the problem but imagination is different from the real thing.

Thus, this attempt by H.B. to portray himself as one more qualified to seek the interest of the indigenous masses is insulting to say the least. H.B. grew up as an elite, attending good schools with the Liberian tax payers money. H.B. also spent much of his life out of Liberia to the extent that he has a Sierra Leonean accent. Tarty Teh, on the other hand, spent a good deal of his formative years in the interior before moving on to Monrovia and the [United] States. So tell me, who would I choose when I want to assess the problems of the interior? It will be Tarty Teh, not H.B. H.B. doesn’t know what it means to plant farm just to pay tuition. H.B. doesn’t really know what it means to contend with messed up roads in Grand Gedeh during the rainy season. H.B. doesn’t really know what it means to pay hut tax for the benefit of black colonists 500 miles away. It is one thing to read about it in a book like, it is another to part that scanty cash when the soldiers come asking for the hut tax. So, H.B. should shut up and let Tarty Teh speak

Everybody has roles to play. Some people know Liberian history and can draw parallels with the past. Others know how life was in the interior and can tell you what the price of a pound of meat was in the 1950s. Still others know political science, economics, chemistry, and other disciplines that can be used to move Liberia forward. Thus, for Fahnbulleh to roam around foreign parts referring to people as high school dropouts and college dropouts contrary to established facts about such persons’ achievements is just a blatant supercilious display of arrogance. So what if someone didn’t acquire knowledge up to a certain level, does that mean that their opinion doesn’t count?

If some of us had that narrow mindedness, we would not be repeatedly praising the BWI graduate who won an international patent for inventing a new kind of charcoal-operated, energy-conserving stove and pressing iron by manipulating the laws of thermodynamics while bachelors holders like us have not invented anything yet. No! You appreciate the skills of an individual and measure that individual by his/her contribution, not by academic standing.

This is how I know it and this is why I love American values. America respects contributions of anyone, regardless of level of education. All that matters is the national interest, and when it is observed, they’re willing to pay heavily to develop such skills or retain such alien as a legal immigrant. It’s not all about college degree. Even the old folks in the interior have strong parables that indicate wisdom, so Fahnbulleh is unnecessarily arrogant because he has Ph.D. But if he wants to be condescending towards those whom he considers as college dropouts, then he should address his remarks to his own brother George Fahnbulleh and disregard GKF’s opinions on all issues. Let’s not pick and choose here on when to be condescending.

One other thing that I disagree with regarding the Fahnbulleh camp is their attempt to paint Tarty Teh as a TWP loyalist. The fact of the matter is that Tarty Teh worked for the GOL and since Liberia had de facto one party state, TWP affiliation was considered automatic, sort of a job ‘‘requirement’’ even though deep down in the hearts of many Government employees, they knew they did not support the TWP. The Fahnbulleh camp, in their quest to prove him as one more qualified to debate issues than Tarty Teh, failed to note that even though Tarty Teh served as a Government employee, he had already established a reputation for himself as one who was willing to take a stand against the GOL.

Not everyone had to experience watching their father being thrown in Belleh Yallah or be harassed as a MOJA operative before they could make a contribution. Some people simply spoke their minds and played their roles in conscientizing the majority about the ills associated with the Americo-Liberian regime. So, where do H.B. and his supporters get off portraying Tarty Teh as loyal to the TWP? It won’t work. Such attempt to mentally seduce the masses is worth flushing in the sewer system. We know where Tarty Teh stands and where he has stood all along.

The Fahnbullehs, on the other hand, benefited more from the very regime that they ended up hating. I recall borrowing a book from a friend once which was authored by a South African. It was an analysis of ‘‘class and tribe’’ in Liberian politics. That book revealed the name of H. Boimah Fahnbulleh Sr. as a member of the Masonic Craft. If this is true, then that means that H. Boimah Fahnbulleh Sr. was really deep into the Americo-Liberian web, probably even dressed in tailcoats, and benefited from Tubman’s largesse. Yet, as soon as things turned around which caused a row with the settle caste, his children suddenly recognized that something was wrong in society.

How dare these late-arriving reformers, who previously gravitated towards the oligarchs, attempt to downplay the contribution made by Tarty Teh when Teh’s entire life epitomizes the struggle by the majority indigenous people? Can they compare their elitist connections to the struggles of others who didn’t have the luxury to benefit from connections to the President of Liberia? I dare say not. So, maybe H.B. needs to dismount from his abstract high horse of importance and recognize that he needs to treat persons like Tarty Teh with respect on issues relating to advancing issues against the current incumbent? This silly delusion of grandeur based on a Ph.D. status, previous high occupation in the Liberian Government, and a few international connections elsewhere will get H.B. nowhere if he can’t talk with others.

Another thing that infuriated me recently was the low down dirty trick used by George to take a shot at Tarty Teh when he suggested somehow that Tarty Teh deserved going to Belleh Yallah. For a man whose father had gone that route, that cheap shot was appalling. Was it a trap set to draw Tarty Teh to respond unfavorably about the older Fahnbulleh? Had it been me, I would have retaliated appropriately; but, of course, Tarty Teh isn’t me and is much older. Age brings along higher sense of maturity (something lacking in Fahnbullehs of all ages), so Teh only warned George not to go there.