Readers React: Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill: Not all readers are thrilled

The Obama administration has announced it plans to replace President Andrew Jackson’s portrait on the $20 bill with none other than Harriet Tubman, a woman who freed herself from slavery and heroically smuggled other African Americans held as property northward — and the reviews from our letter writers are, well, mixed.

Most readers welcome the change, but a sizable portion say an image of a historically significant American Indian would be more appropriate given Jackson’s views on and mistreatment of indigenous people. A few defended Jackson; some even questioned Tubman’s worthiness.

Here are some of their letters.

Jacqueline Kerr of Los Feliz says women in other countries will take note of the new $20 bill:

Having a women’s face, and a black woman’s face no less, on the $20 bill will lift the status of women everywhere. It’s impossible to imagine how this will affect some cultures in Africa, Asia and elsewhere, especially those in places where a woman’s face must be covered.

Go for it, Treasury Department: Alter civilization.

Los Angeles resident Mark Phillips casts Tubman as a hero of the right:

I’m sure the administration chose Tubman because it was just so perfectly politically correct. But in bipartisan reality, Tubman is a terrific choice.

She fought against tyrannical governments, was a devout Christian, carried a gun, and was a Republican. I say great choice.

E.A. Hankins III of Sun Valley says an American Indian deserves to replace Jackson:

The decision to replace Jackson with Underground Railroad hero Tubman is a slap in the face by the Obama administration to American Indians who suffered from the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Jackson enforced that act to relocate Indian nations by force from the southeastern U.S. to present-day Oklahoma. Some 10,000 Indians may have perished during the forced relocations, including about 5,000 Cherokees. This forced relocation is known as the Trail of Tears by the Choctaws and Cherokees.

It would only have been right to replace the image of Jackson on the $20 bill with one of our Indian heroes from the nations affected by the Indian Relocation Act.

Arthur Senzy of Santa Monica defends Jackson:

While much of the nation applauds the removal of a former president from the $20 Federal Reserve note, I would like to point out that Jackson is the only commander in chief to ever leave office with our government debt free and out of the clutches of the central banking systems that have currently plunged our nation into its $19-trillion debt.

Writing from Camden, N.J., Wayne E. Williams wants the Treasury Department to work faster:

As an African American man, I am thrilled. These changes are long overdue.

The year 2020 for these changes to be effective makes them even longer overdue. I sure hope I am blessed to live and experience these new changes.

Why does our government take so long in moving forward with progress?

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