Let me start by unequivocally stating this: I’m all for honoring Harriet Tubman. She’s a great American worthy of our recognition. I don’t even mind that its being done on a currency bill. In fact, I think it might have been better served if a new bill had been created specifically to honor her, such as when a new silver dollar was created to honor Susan B. Anthony all those years ago. Perhaps a $25 dollar bill, or something of that sort.
But in this instance, replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, right now, at this time, is just dumb. And it certainly isn’t going to achieve what they are intending it to achieve. In fact, it’s going to do the opposite.
About a year ago, when the Treasury Department starting floating the idea of replacing Jackson or Hamilton on the $10 or $20 bill, I told my wife, “Mark my word, they will be replaced with a black woman. Count on it.” There was no question the intent was never to actually honor someone deserving. (Not to say Tubman isn’t deserving.) Instead, it was blatantly obvious what the intent was.
This is pandering at it’s worst level. At this moment in our history, when race relations are at an all-time low, thanks to our black President, we have virtually every segment of our society, especially every government entity, going out of its way to prove to everybody we’re not racist.
It’s precisely why Obama was elected in the first place. He didn’t win in 2008 because he won the black vote, or the Latino vote, or even the women vote. A good portion of those segments are already liberal Democrat and would have voted for Obama anyway. Rather, he won because a significant portion of white people voted for Obama BECAUSE he was black, and virtually no other reason. Of course, many of the blacks, Latinos and women voted for the same reason. They all wanted to prove to themselves — and everybody else — that they’re not racist. You remember… if you made it known you weren’t voting for Obama, you were immediately labeled as racist.
In 2012, when everyone realized he’s actually a lousy President, millions of people who had voted for him previously only because he was black decided to not vote at all, which still made them feel better about themselves. That’s why his vote total dropped by over 3 million votes from 2008.
Unfortunately, it’s that same mindset that’s at play here with Harriet Tubman, and, quite frankly, almost every other anti-racism venture you see on the news these days. It’s not about doing anything of any substance to actually fight racism, but rather throw out some symbolic measure that does little more than keep the issue of racism in the forefront of everybody’s thoughts.
Years ago, the actor, Morgan Freeman, did an interview with Mike Wallace on 60 Minutes. Freeman was asked how we can end racism in our society. His response was simple: “Stop talking about it!” Look it up on YouTube. It’s pretty fascinating.
He’s absolutely right. While I believe that because of sheer human stupidity, we will never really end racism for everybody, I do think the best way to get there is to simply stop making it an issue.
Which is exactly what this Tubman thing does. It will do nothing to curb racism and instead fan the flame that keeps it alive.
First of all, NOBODY, and I mean nobody, cares about our currency. Nobody cared about Andrew Jackson, or Alexander Hamilton, or Abe Lincoln or George Washington, for that matter. And the only people who care about Jackson now probably only do so because someone on the news told them they should care.
Meanwhile, you can honor Tubman. She’s certainly deserving. But to what end? There’s no direct family left. (Even one of her descendants says there’s no point to this.) There’s no black people around who actually felt the sting of slavery. The truth is, this is so pointlessly token and pandering, black people ought to be offended. I mean, what are we really doing for them?
And moreover, all you’re going to do is bring every moronic, racist redneck out of the woods to hear them scream about how they’re never going to use the $20 bill again. AND you’ll push the value of Jackson $20 bills through the roof for collectors in the future. It is already becoming a debate in the media. NOBODY looks at this and goes, “Oh yeah, maybe we ought to treat black people better.”
We will never end racism with token moves like this. It’s not even a step in the right direction. It’s just plain stupid. There’s absolutely nothing good that can come from it. Tubman is a great patriot, deserving of recognition as a historical icon. She’s certainly worthy of her place in our history classes in our schools and universities, and there’s great museums, such as the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati, that do a fantastic job of highlighting her place in history.
But this move will, and already is, doing the exact opposite of what they claim they want, which, of course, is somewhat laughable, because one can question if they — in this case, the government, and, more specifically, the Obama Administration — really want to do anything at all. In light of their response to events in Ferguson and Baltimore over the last couple years, and the ongoing, absolutely absurd Black Lives Matter movement, and they’re continued war against our police officers, its apparent Obama doesn’t want to end racism, but rather pander to it to exploit it politically, and profit from maintaining the racial divide.
And that’s a shame, because Harriet Tubman deserves better.
