New Face of Currency 

By Emily Eade

Soon enough there will be a new look at our currency. Believe it or not, the Biden Administration is pushing to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with the powerful Harriet Tubman. This change has been talked about since 2016 when Obama was president.

It seems like the administration is doing this to show diversity and support for black lives. During a press conference on Monday, Jan 25, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters, “The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new $20 notes... It’s important that our notes ... reflect the history and diversity of our country, and Harriet Tubman’s image gracing the new $20 note would certainly reflect that. So we’re exploring ways to speed up that effort.”

Tubman will become the first black person on the face of American paper currency. Tubman won’t be the first woman though. Tubman will join other great American women like former first lady Martha Washington, who was featured on the $1 silver certificate, and Native American Pocahontas, who was part of a group image that was featured on the $20 bill.

Do we want this change? This topic could be taken in a few different ways. When asked students and Black Lives Matter activists “Are you for or against the change of the $20 bill to Harriet Tubman? Why?” to see what they thought about this change; they responded in two ways.

Some took it as a great change, for it is a major milestone in Black history and for Tubman herself. As stated by BLM activist Jordan Berry, “She [Tubman] deserves representation for all the things she did for the black community. As she was a huge lift in history and I commend her on all her success and the risk she took. It’s time a black woman shows power and honor in something, not just a white man.” Also stated by Baldwin Wallace student, Sophia Madge, “Because Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which led to the Trail of Tears, which led to thousands to their death, although he did expand voting rights to more than just white men. Tubman, however, used the Underground Railroad to help free enslaved people to become free of slavery. She also served as a scout and nurse throughout the Civil War. So I just feel like Tubaman’s accomplishments outweigh Jackson’s, more so talking about minorities and such, especially when it came to Jackson’s cons.”

Others took the change as a bad change, thinking Tubman is once again used as currency. As stated by BLM activist, Jaylen Love, “She’s [Tubman] once again being used as currency. But it’s also very performative and doesn’t make or reflect any real change. Capitalism may be seen as the center of society but it is based on very eurocentric ideas and really fails to understand how deep and complex the injustices and wounds are. It feels deaf and more like it is done to make non-BIPOC feel better than it is to help BIPOC. We need more representation in places of power, not on material and superficial things.” Also stated by BLM activist, Muna Obiefule, “Tubman was a slave who was traded and bought with the US currency. The same currency that the Biden Administration is trying to put her face on. Anyway, why should they take the time and money to change the face of the currency to her; when they could use it to do so much more good in the black community?”

The new style of the $20 bill never was addressed by the Biden Administration. Only was the fact that Tubman will be the face of the $20 bill was addressed. Whether or not Jackson will be joining Tubman on the face of the $20 bill or if it will be like Obama’s redesign from 2016, where his image would remain on the $20 bill just on the back.