On April 20, Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew announced that there would be redesigns of the $20, $10, and $5 bills. The most prominent of these changes is the replacing of Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman as the face on $20 bill, with Jackson being moved to the back side.
For some reason, this has struck a chord with some people, with Donald Trump calling it a move done out of “pure political correctness,” and Fox News host Greta Van Susteren criticized the situation for dividing the country for “no good reason”.
No offense, Van Susteren, but I strongly disagree.
While she isn’t a former president, neither were Benjamin Franklin and Alexander Hamilton, the respective faces on the $100 and $10 bills. So while people may think her political standing would be an issue, it really isn’t.
Furthermore, Tubman has a résumé that more than qualifies her for the new status. After escaping slavery in 1839, Tubman went on to guide slaves to freedom with a reported 100 percent success rate. During the Civil War, she was an armed scout and spy for the Union Army. In 1863, she became the first woman to lead a military expedition in the Raid at Combahee Ferry, which freed more than 750 slaves. In her later years, she worker alongside Susan B. Anthony and Emily Howland to promote women’s suffrage.
To summarize, she is someone worthy of respect.
Not only did she do so many astounding things in her 90 years, but unlike so many of our other national icons and heroes, she continued to maintain our respect without a cross-cultural controversy that usually pops up with the passing of a century’s worth of time.
Concerning Vas Susteren and if this change is on the basis of division for “no good reason,” it’s a statement that I’ve heard before. It’s common when it comes to change, to rocking the boat. No one will ever unanimously agree over anything, no matter how simple. It is just a simple reaction to people losing an aspect of their lives that they have grown comfortable with.
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Tubman deserves to be on a bill. Is this important? Most definitely. Should there be any controversy behind this? No, not at all.
Instead of controversy, people should be excited about this. Instead, it is being discussed as if it is one big decision that has yet to be made. Tubman will be on the $20 bill. Andrew Jackson is still on the $20 bill.
