The year 2020 has been filled with many moments of racial tensions. I can only hope that 2021 will allow a period of healing and reform for those suffering, as well as give more opportunities for people like myself to take the time to really learn what it means to be a Black person living in the United States.

Since Obama’s administration, there has been word of replacing Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill.

Now, President Biden’s Treasury Department is hoping to speed up this process, and hopefully have her face put into circulation by 2028, according to the New York Times.

My initial reaction to the news was that I was excited. As someone who aspires to be an activist, I thought that this would be a good thing.

I imagined white supremacists and racists alike standing in line at the grocery store, crisp twenty-dollar bills that showcase one of the most influential women in our history in their hands.

I imagined their children asking questions about her, about the way having Harriet Tubman on such a common piece of money would spark conversations and education about slavery, racism, and who she was.

But after digesting information and taking a step back, the idea seems performative and unhelpful.

Harriet Tubman freed herself and other slaves. She worked as a spy in South Carolina during the Civil War to help bring the Union forces to victory. She actively fought against the system that treated Black people as property. She was a hero. So while the idea of having her picture amidst white people of our history who were racist and had slaves is inherently powerful, it is also superficial.

Our nation was built on slavery. It was built on the backs of Black people–their lives, their souls, and their dreams. Slavery still exists in modern ways. Racism plays a huge role in our society, such as in our prison system, capitalism, and even in the way our neighborhoods are designed. Harriet Tubman actively worked against this system, so putting her face on something that only validates all of it feels unhelpful.

There are so many other options of things we could do as a country to progress, like reforming the prison system, moving to help Black communities in poverty, and un-whitewashing our own history.

Britney Cooper, a Black writer for TIME magazine, said it best in her opinions piece.

“If Tubman is going to be linked to conversations on capital, that conversation must be about a redistribution and funneling of resources and money into Black communities, to deal with wealth and wage disparities, access to education and safe housing, and a comprehensive plan of action to redress the social determinants of poor Black health.”

While my opinion is completely irrelevant because I am not Black, I hope that my opinion sparks conversations and a chance for you to learn and listen to Black voices, too.

Cooper finishes her article with a powerful ending. I hope you take the time to read the article in its entirety.

She writes, “…American money, and our national romance with it, is the root of so many of our national evils. Too often America attempts to atone for racism through style and symbol rather than substance. We don’t need America to put Black women on its money. We need America to put its money on Black women.

https://time.com/5933920/harriet-tubman-20-bill-joe-biden/

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