Their accents clear subway cars. They are denied work as soon as anyone hears where they are from. And their kids are being bullied at school.
Residents of Staten Island’s Liberian community — the largest outside of Africa — said life has been a struggle since the Ebola outbreak, and it has been impossible to break free from the stigma.
Community leader Oretha Bestman-Yates, 43, flew to her homeland in July to visit her nieces and nephew, and she was cleared by her doctor to go back to her job at a private hospital when she returned.
The people sitting next to me looked, and I heard them whispering and they said, ‘She’s Liberian’ . . . They walked away from me.
- Oretha Bestman-Yates
But her bosses instead forced her to go on unpaid leave since the family trip, she said.
“I asked them, ‘Are you telling me not to come in because of Ebola, or because I’m Liberian?’ ” said Yates, who also runs the Staten Island Liberian Community Association in Clifton.
The frustrated mom said she loses $1,100 every two weeks that she is out of work, and her car has been repossessed. She also recently caught people whispering about her in public.
“The people sitting next to me looked, and I heard them whispering,” said Yates. “And they said, ‘She’s Liberian’ . . . They walked away from me.”
Her young son is taking it hard.
“He’s only 6 years old, and he normally says, ‘I am Liberian,’ ” said Yates. “But he told me he doesn’t want to say that anymore because all people talk about is Ebola.”
About 10,000 Liberians live on Staten Island, largely in the Park Hill and Clifton neighborhoods. Many moved there during a civil war in their homeland.
“It’s human nature for people to look at this in a funny way and be scared. I understand people’s fears,” said Roberts.
“I have a 14-year-old son. I don’t want to die. I don’t want him to die, either. But this seems extreme.”
Ahmed Kargbo, 45, of Mariners Harbor said he was riding an R train on Monday when passengers heard his voice and cleared his entire subway row.
“People can detect your accent and know you’re from Africa,” said Kargbo, who hails from Sierra Leone.
“The whole row I sat on went empty. I was kind of shocked that this happens in the United States of America.”
His friend was told at a Labor Day party to use a napkin if he wanted to touch a plate, while a partygoer said when he saw him that “Ebola is walking around.”
“They think you are the disease itself, or you are a positive carrier,” said Kargbo. “Instead of avoiding me, let’s find a way of how they can be knowledgeable.”
They think you are the disease itself, or you are a positive carrier… Instead of avoiding me, let’s find a way of how they can be knowledgeable.
- Ahmed Kargbo
Staten Island Councilwoman Debi Rose told The Post that Liberian kids in her district are being bullied after school.
“I have heard about instances where young Liberian children have been singled out, ostracized and made to feel responsible for this virus,” she said.
She added that she has reached out to Staten Island hospitals to make sure they are up to date on protocols for treating the disease and fully prepared.
One home health-care worker, who did not want to be identified, said her patient told her she didn’t want her coming back because she’s Liberian.
On Facebook, some Liberians are trying to fight back. They are posting pictures of themselves saying, “I’m Liberian, I’m not a virus.”
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile