Over two years ago I posited this question in a diary, and it is most unfortunate that I must post it again. I have been an infrequent contributor to DK, but this one was rec’d more than most of my others. A recent diary informed us of the removal from the Capitol of the statue of the vile racist Justice Taney, to be replaced by a statue of Justice Thurgood Marshall. In Roanoke, VA, there are plans to replace a Robert E. Lee monument with a statue of Henrietta Lacks. These symbolic gestures, though they have taken far too long, are still significant. They display to the world what we are as a country, what our real values are.
I posted the diary before Biden took office, but it has now been over two years of inexcusable inaction. Surely the Treasury Department can walk and chew gum at the same time. The administration’s failure to pursue this expeditiously is an absolute slap in the face to the women of color who saved our asses in 2020 and came through for all of America again recently in Georgia. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? What can be a greater example of our Democratic leaders’ complete lack of gratitude than failing to recognize what Black women have done for our country? What is the impediment to this simple action? I am completely baffled.
As my previous diary was not very long and is still relevant, and for the sake of those who may have missed it, I submit the text again:
What About Harriet Tubman?
This may seem a trivial issue with the plethora of urgent problems that will need to be addressed by Biden and his administration in taking over the trainwreck dumped into his hands by a Republican cabal whose incompetence is only matched by its corruption. The ranking of priorities alone will be a Herculean task. But symbolism is important and should not be shoved onto the back burner.
It was no accident that NRA’s LaPierre was invited to a White House Xmas party on the fifth anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre. Or that the Navajo codetalkers were hosted in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson, aka Indian Killer. The symbolism (and vile venality) was hard to miss.
It should be obvious to anyone who has looked at the statistics, that black women were a major force in defeating the wannabe tyrant. One of the most, if not the most, disenfranchised demographic groups in this country came through for the rest of us and saved all our asses.The debt of gratitude owed them will likely never be fully paid, but one symbolic act would be a good start.
As early as 2016, plans were being made to replace the Jackson $20 bill with one featuring Tubman, the first woman on US paper currency. The timeline was aiming at 2020 for the change, to coincide with the the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment. This was held up by Treasury Secretary Mnouchebag on the specious grounds of security concerns. The real reason, of course, was to placate the racism of the whiner-in-chief and his hatred of strong women. Tubman had more courage and strength of character in her little finger than that poor excuse for a human being has in his entire pathetic, bloated body.
It is absoluely shameful that the portrait of a genocidal scoundrel, Andrew Jackson (one of several despicable products of my home state of Tennessee, along with Andrew Johnson and Marsha Blackburn), should be displayed on our currency. I would urge president-elect Biden to instruct whomever he appoints as Secretary of Treasury to fast tract the politically delayed honoring of a woman whose heroic actions personified the highest values of humanity and brought honor to this country, beset as it is with a very shameful past