Harriet Tubman is THE woman America needs NOW! Her efforts to lead escaped slaves along the Underground Railroad of the early nineteenth century are unarguably heroic. Not only that, in the early nineteenth century she is leading men at a time when it was unheard of.
She is not protesting, she is DOING. She was leading men in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. She helped change us at the risk of her own life. She fought against what is worst in us. She built a coalition of men AND women, white AND black to organize the Underground Railroad. Damn you, if you cannot see her greatness!
Harriet Tubman’s heroic efforts to free slaves and lead them to liberty are so very American. Leading people to freedom IS America, or at least what we espouse. She was doing it before the Union took up arms to liberate the slaves. Over a century ago, Harriet Tubman built a coalition of whites and blacks, men and women. A coalition that was successful and transforming on a national level.
I believe that she can build that coalition again today. To bring together men and women, to bring together white and black and the whole great melting pot, America requires a tower of strength like this. A GOOD example like this! She belongs on the money.
The pictures on the money help make citizens think they are part of a country. This is an obvious fact not to be ignored. In this divisive election year, putting Harriet Tubman on the currency is a good idea for this nation. Her image can be one that unites us instead of dividing us. We have been toying with this idea for decades now. I propose Jefferson’s two-dollar bill is the place to put her face.
First, Alexander Hamilton was to give up his place on the ten-spot, and then Andrew Jackson was to give up his place on the twenty-dollar bill. Frankly, I think that keeping Jackson on the double sawbuck is important. Jackson was the first Democrat president and the first American populist. Jackson was surrounded by men from his military career that came from modest backgrounds. Andrew Jackson’s presidency was a campaign of the “common” man. Jackson’s campaign was more inclusive than previous presidential entourages had been.
His legacy is important because populism is a double-edged sword. Populism can seem inclusive. However, it can be a dictatorship of the majority as well. There are so many cautionary tales that are part of the Jackson presidency, it seems actually dangerous to do away with him at this moment in time. Andrew Jackson can help Americans understand the excesses of populism with the tragic Trail of Tears a primary lesson. I do not wish to see Andrew Jackson on the dustbin of history just yet.
I think the Democrats would have us forget the Jackson legacy and the roots of the Democratic Party. After all, it was this legacy that made Vermonters Republicans or at least NOT Democrats… FOREVER. This is why Bernie Sanders is independent. It is also why the veteran Republican Senator Jeffords left the GOP but did not become a Democrat. Sorry, I digress.
To take the two-dollar bill from a Founding Father of questionable racial ethics and give it to a black woman that fought against those questionable ethics can help us heal. To give the two-dollar bill to Harriet Tubman is to move forward the idea that Americans of all colors and genders can work together to defeat evil.
Bring “color” to the money, bring “gender” to the money, it is something America needs today. Soon the paper dollar bill will be obsolete due to the three trillion dollar bonfire they just had in DC. Inflation will make the TWO dollar bill very relevant very soon. She will be positioned to be memorialized on the most numerous of the paper bills as George’s is going to get retired.
In this time of great racial strife. Harriet is here to bring us together. She is here to help free us from the burden of our hate. On this Juneteenth let us celebrate this woman of color. This woman of greatness is here for us. She is an indisputable BADASS who represents everything that is great about this nation while simultaneously reminding us of our deep and terrible flaws. She is one of our better angels. America, please take her hand and let her lead us from this darkness that threatens to consume us.
