A House with Two Rooms - The Advocates for Human Rights

“Even your younger brother will try to measure up with you when you are in America, while in
Liberia they always used to respect you.” 361 Moreover, legal regimes in the United States that protect
women and children through active enforcement have contributed to equalizing power relationships
in the community, among men and women and among parents and children. All of these aspects of
adjustment to life in the United States – employment, isolation, race, as well as gender and youth issues
– will be discussed in detail in the following sections.
Underemployment
Statement givers in the United States describe again and again suffering from “underemployment.” 362
Numerous statement givers report that their professional degrees and credentials are not recognized
in the United States, forcing them to accept employment at jobs far below their qualifications and of
lesser prestige and pay. 363 In one case, a statement giver who holds a Liberian college degree reported
working only at “menial” jobs. 364 A focus group participant in Rhode Island described the situation
in this way:
Many educated Liberians come to the United States and are looked upon as
not intelligent…For example, medical doctors who leave Liberia and come
to the United States are not employed as doctors. They reduce themselves to
jobs as medical assistants. That is true for other competent individuals, such
as engineers. The community does not absorb them. 365
One statement giver who is a Liberian and Canadian-trained physician confirmed this assertion,
noting that she had never been able to successfully integrate into the U.S. healthcare system, despite
experience working with the World Health Organization in Liberia. 366 Another noted:
When I was in Liberia I had an undergraduate degree in business management.
I worked as a junior project economist. I worked for an oil company and an
electric company. However even that experience wasn’t considered when I
applied for jobs in the United States. 367
An interviewee with a master’s degree from Indiana University and a World Bank fellowship stated
that her first job in the United States was cleaning the house for a female college student. 368
Obtaining a job can be difficult for various reasons. According to some members of the diaspora
community, their Liberian accents posed an obstacle to them in finding employment. One interviewee
who has been in Atlanta since 1985 noted that when she first arrived, it was easier to find a job than
it is today, which she attributes to increased hostility towards illegal immigrants and increased focus
on securing necessary legal documentation as a prerequisite to employment. 369 The pressure to send
346