U.S. Treasury via AP
This April 17, 2015, photo shows the front of the U.S. $20 bill, featuring a likeness of Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the United States. With a change of administrations, it looks like Harriet Tubman is once again headed to the front of the $20 bill. Biden press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that the Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put the 19th century abolitionist leader on the $20 bill. Obama administration Treasury Secretary Jack Lew had selected Tubman to replace Andrew Jackson, the nation’s seventh president, on the $20 bill.
Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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In reviving the process to place Harriet Tubman’s image on the $20 bill, President Joe Biden took a laudable step toward recognizing the significance of this giant of American history and celebrating the heroic values she exemplified. Honoring Tubman in this way should make every American proud.
Tubman, the former slave who escaped bondage and became perhaps the most prominent “conductor” on the Underground Railroad, is richly befitting of being commemorated on our currency. She inspired generations of Americans, and continues to do so today, with her bedrock commitment to freedom and justice, her compassion and the extraordinary courage she demonstrated by venturing to Maryland more than a dozen times to escort slaves to their freedom. In each of those journeys, she put her life at risk to liberate others.
Her sacrifices didn’t end there. During the Civil War, she served as a scout, nurse and spy for Union forces in South Carolina. Her social activism continued after the war, through harboring orphans and the elderly, becoming active in women’s suffrage and supporting other causes.
Tubman’s imprint on our history, and on our racial progress, is indelible. She embodies the very best of the American spirit.
It is especially fitting that the person she’ll be replacing on the front of the bill is Andrew Jackson.
Jackson was an ethnic cleanser and an unrepentant supporter of slavery who enslaved more than 150 people as a plantation owner. He intertwined slavery with the genocide of Native Americans by spearheading the removal of tribes from their homelands to make those areas available to slave-owning interests — including his own.
Thousands of tribal members died of malnutrition and disease in these forced marches, along what would become known as the Trail of Tears. Those who survived the ordeal were forced to subsist on land that was barely habitable, killing more.
By 1836, with Jackson at the lead, the U.S. government had driven nearly 50,000 Native Americans off of land east of the Mississippi, which opened 25 million acres of territory to slave-holders.
Jackson’s legacy also includes war crimes and atrocities against Native Americans during his military career. His presidency was infamous as well, beginning with a riot among his supporters in the White House and ending with a national financial crisis brought on by his economic policies.
In 2021, it’s time for a change on the $20.
Early designs of the new bill with Tubman on the front also included a scene incorporating Jackson on the back. Removing his image altogether would be even better.
That said, it’s invigorating that Biden has restarted the design process, which initiated during President Barack Obama’s second term but was shelved by the Trump administration.
More than a century after her death in 1913, Tubman’s light shines as bright as ever as a role model to those who champion freedom for all Americans. Placing her on our currency will not only pay tribute to her and those who followed her lead, it will help introduce new generations to her legacy — and no doubt inspire many of them to emulate her. After a summer when Americans from across the ethnic spectrum joined in unprecedented numbers to demonstrate in the name of social justice, it’s an ideal moment to honor Tubman.
The timetable for the change isn’t clear, as plans during the Trump administration called for the $10 and $50 bills to be refreshed before the $20. However, Biden administration officials have indicated that they will accelerate the process.
That’s great to hear. The sooner Tubman’s image can grace the bill, the better. Heroes belong on our currency, not villains.
