[“Speaking Truth to Empower”]
Harriet Tubman was a freedom-fighter unlike genocidal Indian killer Jackson…
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Mnuchin halts unveiling of new Tubman $20 dollar-bill
Trump White House lackey Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has just prevented Underground Railroad freedom fighter Harriet Tubman from replacing President Andrew Jackson’s image on the $20-dollar bill next year.
Jackson, a racist, slave-owning, genocidal killer of Native-Americans, will stay on the bill till about 2026.
Here we see another example of the racist politics that permeates Trump’s polluted White House.
On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced to the House Financial Services Committee that the redesign of the $20-dollar bill will be postponed, till at earliest 2026. The new bill’s image will portray Harriet Tubman. The legendary Black former female slave—and Union Army spy—freed hundreds of African-American slaves, using the abolitionist network known as the Underground Railroad.
According to the New York Times, Mnuchin was reportedly worried Trump might cause a political crisis by scrapping the redesign altogether if it wasn’t delayed till after Trump left office.
It’s no secret Donald Trump is a big fan of President Andrew Jackson—a notorious slave-owning president, who was personally responsible for the massacres of untold numbers of Native-Americans. The fact that Trump likes Jackson—one of the most rabidly racist American presidents ever—isn’t a surprise, given Trump’s xenophobic nativism. Trump has already told us he’s a White nationalist. Moreover, during the 2016 Presidential campaign, Trump complained about the scheduled $20 dollar-bill redesign, that was an initiative proposed by the administration of President Barack Obama.
“Andrew Jackson had a great history, and I think it’s very rough when you take somebody off the bill,” Trump said then. Trump claimed the replacing of Jackson was “pure political correctness.” Clearly, Trump has a problem with this White racist slaveholder being replaced by a Black female freedom fighter. What could be more fitting that to erase Jackson’s loathsome persona from the $20 dollar-bill with someone who really fought for freedom like Harriet Tubman?
There is an important similarity between Andrew Jackson and Trump.
Jackson did everything in his power to eradicate Native-Americans—so Whites could control the land. Renowned historian Dr. Howard Zinn, in his classic work, “A People’s History of the United States,” called Andrew Jackson “the most aggressive enemy of the Indians in early American history.” Professor Zinn cites Jackson as a major figure in “Indian Removal,’ as it has been politely called.” Zinn says the stated intent was to clear “the land for White occupancy.”
Trump is now trying to make America White again by engaging in brutal immigration policies to remove non-White “others” from America. African-Americans, who think Trump is correct in his immigration stance, are fooling themselves if they think Trump wouldn’t do the same to them if he could. Remember when he talked about how nice it would be to deport Black football players who were protesting racist police violence? What about his complaint about immigrants coming from the “shithole countries” of Africa?
Trump repeatedly plays the race card for political advantage. The racist uptick, over the last few years, signals this.
The redesign plans for the Harriet Tubman $20 dollar-bill were announced by President Obama’s Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew. But after Trump took office, the plans for the redesign were scrubbed from the Treasury Department website. Not long after, Mnuchin told CNBC “People have been on the bills for a long period of time.”
Mnuchin is now using the lame excuse that the delay is because he is busy trying to stop counterfeiting, and that he is focusing first of the $10, and $50 dollar-bills. He alluded to a “security feature redesign” as another reason for the delay. This is surely a lie to coverup the real racist reason.
Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley, in the House Financial Services Committee hearing, asked Mnuchin if he believed “representation matters in American politics and imagery?” Mnuchin said yes. Pressley then proceeded to explain how the Tubman $20 dollar-bill came about.
“A few years ago, Secretary Lew put out a call to the American people soliciting feedback on ways to modernize our nation’s currency,” Pressley said. “In April 2016, following longtime organizing efforts from several grassroots organizations, he announced a currency redesign overhaul that would more accurately reflect the diversity of our society. The American people understood the importance of representation on the bank notes of the world’s most powerful economy. Representation that acknowledged our history, and all those who have contributed.”
Pressley then asked Mnuchin if he believed “people other than White men have greatly contributed to this country and its history?” He again answered yes.
Rep. Pressley then told Mnuchin “after ten months of soliciting and analyzing responses, Secretary Lew announced that Harriet Tubman would be featured on the front of the new $20 dollar-bill. As it stands currently our currency does not reflect the diversity of individuals that have contributed to our great American history. He followed the announcement by directing the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to accelerate plans for the redesign, so the final design concepts would be unveiled in 2020. The one-hundred-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Which we celebrated yesterday. As you know, 2020 is only one year away. And since Secretary Lew’s departure we have not heard anything regarding the status of the currency redesign.”
Pressley then asked Mnuchin “Will the redesign meet the 2020 deadline?
“So, let me comment that the primary reason that we’ve looked at redesigning the currency is for counterfeiting issues,” Mnuchin said. “Based upon this, the $20 bill will now not come out until 2028. The $10 bill and the $50 bill will come out with new features beforehand. So, the answer is it is my responsibility now to focus on what is the issue of counterfeiting and the security features. The ultimate decision on the redesign will most likely be another secretary down the road.”
Rep. Pressley pressed Mnuchin by asking him “Yes or no will you meet what was originally the 2020 redesign deadline?” Mnuchin declare “We will meet the security feature redesign in 2020. The imagery feature will not be an issue that comes up until most likely in 2026.
Then, in an example of duplicitous hairsplitting, Mnuchin said when he agreed diversity was important to imagery he was “not referring to currency” but to “lots of things.” When Pressley asked, “Do you support Harriet Tubman being on the $20 bill?” To this straightforward question, Mnuchin answered “I’ve made no decision as it relates to that.”
Mnuchin knows the Trump White doesn’t want the symbology of a Black female freedom fighter being placed on the American currency, on Trump’s watch. After all, Trump has too much invested in trying to make America White again. What would all the “very fine” White racists of America say? It would be bad enough to have a Black man replace Jackson, but a Black woman would be even worse for Trump—and the White racist misogynists in his base.
Andrew Jackson, America’s seventh President, was a wealthy slave-owner, who owned over one hundred slaves when he died at age 78, on June 8, 1845. Owning slaves doesn’t make Jackson unique from most Slavery-era American presidents. However, Jackson’s murderous exploits during the “Indian Removal” period, makes him more unfit for praise than most presidents. He is one of the most racist ruthless presidents America ever had.
Removing Jackson from the $20 dollar-bill will be controversial to those who support Trump’s xenophobic polices. Mnuchin obviously understands that as a White nationalist president Trump can’t have someone like Harriet Tubman replacing his hero Andrew Jackson, while he is president.
Having a Black female freedom fighter like Harriet Tubman on the $20 dollar-bill now would be just too much for Trump—and his bigoted base to bear.
