Friday, March 5, 2021 | 2 a.m.
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Harriet Tubman was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, with a record of never losing a single passenger on the road to freedom from slavery.She aided the Civil War effort as a Union spy, scout, cook and battlefield nurse, and in 1863 she led an armed raid that freed 700 slaves in South Carolina — making her the first woman ever to lead a U.S. military expedition.
In contrast, Andrew Jackson owned 95 enslaved people before he became president, and brought 14 of them to the White House. He signed into law the Indian Removal Act, forcing tribes off their own lands and onto the “Trail of Tears” — an action that is now frequently referenced as a forced death march.
Which legacy is worth celebrating?
In April 2016, when the Obama administration announced that Tubman would replace Jackson on the $20 bill, then-candidate Donald Trump called the move “pure political correctness.” It mirrors similar responses he gave when asked about the removal of Confederate statues.
Just because these historical figures may have been celebrated in the past, doesn’t mean they should continue to be put on a pedestal today. We need to celebrate the champions who espouse the values for which this country is supposed to stand.
Now we are under the Biden administration, which includes the first Black, Indian and female vice president, as well many other “first” diverse Cabinet members. These high-level appointments are notable and reflect a commitment to diversity — but it’s also a disgrace that it took this long.
We should have currency in our pockets that reflects the values in our hearts. As White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “It’s important that our money reflect the history and diversity of our country.”
Representation matters in politics, in the arts, in business and in the symbols that reach us all. The names we all know reflect our society’s diversity — or lack of it. When Tubman gave up her birth name, Araminta Ross, she cast aside the name given to her by slaveholders and claimed for herself an identity she could pass on to future generations.
Accelerating the redesign of the $20 bill sends a long overdue message. The image of Andrew Jackson on our currency tells Black people exactly what their government thinks of them — that they are less than. The founding of our country established such structural inequalities that stunted the growth of Black communities at every turn, and even today, Black communities still fight to be seen, have value and to own something.
But the image of Tubman would serve as a reminder of how this heroine helped change the course of our country’s history toward equality. Regularly seeing her image on something as ubiquitous as a $20 bill will be a turning point — especially if Barack Obama’s hope is fulfilled that, just as people call $100 bills “Benjamins” the $20 will come to be known as “Tubmans.”
Tubman’s indomitable spirit, tenacity and passion for justice is uplifted by today’s grassroots activists, who heed the advice of the escaped slave and abolitionist who was considered the “Moses” of her time:
“If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.If there’s shouting after you, keep going.Don’t ever stop.Keep going.If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”
Words like these, and bravery like hers, inspire generations of intersectional feminists, as they strengthen the resolve of their elders. For example, Shirley Chisholm was a member of the Harriet Tubman Society at Brooklyn College, where she said she learned about “white oppression, Black racial consciousness and Black pride.”
Chisholm said Tubman gave her resolve on the campaign trail, along with Sojourner Truth.“A lot of this hostility,” she said, “is because I’m a woman. … I can understand when I read about Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman.And I say to myself, if those two little old Black women had to go through what they did, well maybe I, too, better try to be strong.”
Is our nation finally going to commit to racial justice and gender equality? If the answer is yes, we need Tubman on the $20 bill.
Christian Nunes is the president of the National Organization for Women. She wrote this for InsideSources.com.
