Future Of Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Threatened By Trump Administration

The new $20 bill will no longer be unveiled in 2020 according to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin. The unveiling had been timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. Mnuchin said that the design process has been delayed, and no new imagery will be unveiled until 2028.

In 2016 the Treasury Department announced that Harriet Tubman (a Black slavery abolitionist) would replace Andrew Jackson on the front of $20 bill. Prior to his election, Trump raged over this plan to add COLOR to U.S. currency calling it a ‘political correctness’ sham. Upon election he subsequently announced the following year that change would not be happening on his watch.

The Washington Post previously reported in 2017 that Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he will not commit to plan of putting an image of slavery abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. Under the 2016 Obama proposal, Tubman would replace President Andrew Jackson’s image on the front while Jackson would move to the back of the bill. It would make Tubman, who led numerous slaves to freedom, the first African American on U.S. currency.

Andrew Jackson who was the seventh US president became wealthy from his slaves. He was also behind the forced relocation of Native Americans in what’s become known as the Trail of Tear. Trump has publicly declared that he’s a great admirer of Jackson and believes the plan to replace him with Tubman is about political correctness.

The Tubman design was announced in 2016 by former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew following a 10-month process in which the department sought input from the public.

“The decision to put Harriet Tubman on the new $20 was driven by thousands of responses we received from Americans young and old,” Lew said at the time. “I have been particularly struck by the many comments and reactions from children for whom Harriet Tubman is not just a historical figure, but a role model for leadership and participation in our democracy.”

It shouldn’t be too difficult to put one and one together to understand why the unveiling of the new Harriet Tubman $20 bill design is being suspended until 2028.

VTMONEY

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