As you may have heard in the last week, Old Hickory Andrew Jackson will no longer grace us with his head shot every time we withdraw money from an ATM. Now, Underground Railroad conductor and anti-slavery icon Harriet Tubman will (sometime during the 2020s) be the new face of the $20 bill. This decision sparked great debate among the political community, as both race and gender equality seem to post issues among conservatives and progressives. Many conservative leaders have criticized the decision. One Republican presidential candidate called the move "pure political correctness," a rallying cry that's beautifully masked, underlying racism in many parts of our nation. Another prominent brain surgeon suggested that we place Tubman on the $2 bill instead, which seems like an empty gesture. However, Harriet Tubman's placement on the $20 is a significant move, and while it doesn't do anything to necessarily address the tactile problems that plague many groups in America today, it does signal a societal shift for a multiplicity of reasons.
1. Andrew Jackson was not a good guy.
Many people have made arguments that Andrew Jackson has his own history, and that history needs to be honored. Donald Trump was quoted saying, "Andrew Jackson had a great history. I think it's very rough when you take somebody off the bill. Andrew Jackson had a history of tremendous success for the country."
At the time of his death Jackson owned over 150 people; this is not necessarily a unique argument, because if this is the bar, Jackson isn't the only person coming off a bill. Not only was Jackson a slave owner, but he was downright hostile to the abolitionist movement, firmly holding onto the status-quo of white control in America. Furthermore, Jackson played a significant role in the Trail of Tears. Jackson did nothing when Georgia claimed millions of acres of land from the Cherokee tribe, and even denied a Supreme Court ruling that declared Georgia had no right to the land. His inaction led to a death march from Georgia to more western territories, where first nations’ peoples were forced to walk thousands of miles with all of their belongings and limited supplies. When the dust settled, Jackson had left thousands to die.
2. Harriet Tubman goes largely unrecognized.
The work Tubman did during the pre-civil war era is paramount in displaying the small victories won in the battle for freedom each and every day. We’re all acutely aware of Harriet Tubman's role as a prominent conductor of the Underground Railroad - a job that helped her lead hundreds of slaves to freedom in the mid-1800s. But, Tubman achieved much more over the course of her life. During the early days of the civil war, Tubman led 150 Union soldiers in a raid of Combahee River Raid, becoming the first woman in American history to conduct an armed military raid. During the later days of the Civil War, Tubman was a Union nurse and spy, saving the lives of dozens of wounded soldiers on the battlefront. She also became a Union spy for a time. Finally, Tubman, an early adopter of intersectional equality, championed not only abolitionist movements, but issues of women’s rights. Harriet Tubman toured the nation after the Civil War giving speeches about her own life and experiences from slave to liberator, and near the end of her life in 1896 she was invited as a guest speaker at the first meeting of the National Association of Colored Women. A life time of fighting for freedom and equality of all people no matter their race, gender, or otherwise has deservingly earned Tubman a spot on our currency, bringing to light a national conversation.
3. A major victory for minority groups.
For the first time, the United States has someone on our currency that doesn't look like some version of the monopoly man. People chalk moves like this up to political correctness all the time, but in reality, money is a symbol of power; we don’t put people on money that accomplished nothing. Instead we put presidents’, and key founding figures in our nation who fought for freedom... well, freedom as long as you were a white, land-owning male. Tubman represents a cultural shift in our society toward recognizing the accomplishments of not only patriarchal fair skinned figures, but also the accomplishments of those that stuck up for the voiceless. People know that George Washington had wooden teeth and that Lincoln gave a speech at Gettysburg, but not that Tubman was the FIRST WOMAN IN AMERICAN HISTORY TO LEAD AN ARMED RAID. It’s not deemed significant, because she doesn’t fit the narrative crafted of what an American hero looks like. In reality it’s people like Harriet Tubman that make America great; she is the epitome of an American hero, a leader, and a symbol of hope and equality. Another argument I heard a lot in the last week was that there are “bigger fish to fry.” After all, 1 in 3 young African American men are under control of criminal justice system, and America holds a higher percentage of African American’s in prison than South Africa at the time of Apartheid. But here’s the deal: It’s not about a few landmark victories every handful of decades, but a continued perceptual push for equality. Placing Tubman on the $20 is one of those perceptual victories; it doesn’t logistically make a difference right now, but it does show a shift of recognition in the American public. It shows kids that white men aren’t the only people that deserve to be on money. When these perceptual victories continue to mount, then the landmark issues begin to fall, they don’t happen without lead up and ground work. You need these types of small wins to build up to toppling issues of systemic racism in America.
Also, side note, “bigger fish” to fry!? You think US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew gets a lot of chances to attack issues of social injustice in his day to day? US currency was due for in update in the next decade, if it wasn’t Tubman replacing Jackson than it would be a new font or color pattern, and no one would be yelling “bigger fish” to fry. Give me a break.
The shift from Jackson to Tubman isn't just some pointless politically correct decision that doesn't need to be addressed. The only thing America is missing out on when Jackson gets the boot is a luscious head of hair, (seriously go pull out a $20 right now, that dude's bangs are second to none). I recognize that this doesn't close the gender pay gap. It doesn't decrease the skewed African American prison population, and it doesn't help put more minorities in better schools. But the new $20 bill shows that we’re on the right track. We shouldn’t be complacent in our social positions, but rather constantly fighting to evolve and open up new dialogues that make equality a more achievable goal.
