Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2021/01/25/u-s-treasury-resumes-efforts-to-place-harriet-tubman-on-20-dollar-bill.html
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My fear is that if it can be changed, it can be changed by the Republicans the next time they’re in control. The thought of who they would put on our currency makes my head spin.
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And if we let that fear rule us then nothing will ever change, which is what the Republicans want.
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Is it really possible they’d pick someone more odious than a slaver and racist genocidal maniac? I could see them picking a confederate general, maybe, but it’s hard to get worse than Jackson.
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I would be more worried about [bigoted shopowners] refusing to accept bills with Harriet Tubman on them, or not accepting them at face value.
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Sounds great to me. But I don’t think I’ve seen a $20 bill, or any cash, in a long time!
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US currency designs, coins in particular, have changed many, many times over the history of of our country. The recent decades, during which designs have remained stagnant, are an anomaly.
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Yea, I think it would be treated as a $12 [by some]. I also think Mnuchin should be forced to have Harriett Tubman’s face tattoo’d over his face.
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Ten dollar bills are already different, being reddish in color. That hasn’t made people question their legitimacy as tender.
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Hooray! I expected this one but none the less, hooray!
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Of course the images on currency can be changed, and have been many times. It’s not like the US Mint started printing the current design on $20 bills in 1792 in anticipation that there might be a guy named Andrew Jackson elected President some day.
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Yes, but there is a certain subset of people in [this] country who might have problems with Harriet Tubman on their currency. Not just because it’s different, but because…well…racism.
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If the bigots don’t want those $20 bills they can give them to someone else. Problem solved.
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“The South” is a pretty big place, with a lot of us liberals, a lot of people of color, and a lot of conservatives who won’t care. I get that the stereotype is fun and easy, and the 3/5 joke was funny, but Michigan, Idaho, and Montana are just as likely.
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The US is weird in that we see the people on our money as more or less permanent (although there are changes if you go back far enough). Many countries change the people on their currency regularly.
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my “fear” put very simply is that we we have an international banking cartel in place and Harriet Tubman doesn’t exactly fit with their ideology while I’m of course totally for Tubman on the bill thats great , I wonder why this has been allowed to happen and can’t help suspect the dollars days are numbered and something new is on the horizon. the dollar is as powerful and as compelling a god as any and when its face changes I can’t help suspect something is shifting, especially when money is being printed and we begin to follow in the footsteps of the weimar republic and print money though admittedly at a much more conservative rate… but still …
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The design of US dollar bills is not one of the things that influence the value of the dollar on international currency markets. The perceived health of the US economy, the perceived health of the world economy, the US government’s economic policies, etc, are the things that matter.
Printing new banknotes and removing worn-out old notes from circulation is not the same thing as what the news media call “printing money”, i.e increasing the money supply.
Most countries regularly redesign their banknotes to allow for upgraded security measures. Keeping the same famous dead person on the note for nearly a century is something only the US does. Replacing old notes with new ones does not devalue the currency or cause people to lose their money, unless the government is grossly incompetent or intentionally cruel. People can exchange old notes for new ones in a reasonable time, unless they have suspiciously large amounts of cash to exchange because they are criminals or keep their money under the mattress.
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Nice symbolism.
Now let’s see if they can get the same rapid results with the task of getting 100 of these into everyone’s hands.
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Oh please let it be this design!
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