Liberia was run by an Americo-Liberian(African-American) minority from 1847 to 1980. They gained power via colonial enterprise when a group of Americans sought to pay for many of the freed slaves to "return" to Africa. I put "return" in quotes because for all intents and purposes, they were American, through and through. The idea was that the United States was a White nation and that these free Blacks would create their own American-style republic in West Africa for themselves.

Unfortunately, the native African peoples of Liberia didn't have any choice in the matter. When the African-Americans began settling, they blocked the native African tribes from power in the new republic. The Americo-Liberians adopted a policy of pseudo-racial segregation and established that their transplanted culture from the southern United States(Protestantism, the English language, American values) was superior to the primitive cultures of the native tribes. One of the key differences between Liberian segregation and American segregation however was the fact that a native African could ascend to Americo-Liberian status by converting to Protestant Christianity, speaking fluent English, and educating themselves, although few did. It was truly a cultural recreation of the racial hierarchy in the Antebellum Era United States with Americo-Liberians replacing the Whites on top. Throughout this time, all presidents were descended from African-Americans.

Saddam Hussein, sunni minority in Iraq?