Why I Don’t Want Harriet Tubman’s Face On the $20 Bill!
Why I Don’t Want Harriet Tubman’s Face On the $20 Bill!
Okay, calm down. I know all my liberal brothers and sisters heads are on the verge of exploding but please hear me out before you condemn me as some right wing teabagger. Because trust me, I’m not.
There are several reason and some of them you’re not going to like because a lot of people simply will not want to hear the truth about what I am saying. Not all reasons why are based on truth and fact, some of my reasoning I admit freely that are just simply my opinion but I would like to think that I have come to them from a place of truth and after a serious amount of respectful thought.
Here’s my big issue with this sudden much talked about issue. Why? That’s right why? Ask yourself honestly. The people I have seen in favor of wanting Harriet Tubman’s Face On the $20 Bill all want to do it, first, because she is a woman. Second, because she is black. Third is because they think she is worthy or rather qualified. If the fist reason you want Harriet Tubman On the $20 Bill is because she’s black or because you think we need to have black people on our money then you’re being racist, sexist and discriminatory, stop that. The fact that Harriet Tubman is black or that we don’t have a black person on any paper money is no reason to put a black person on some bills.
The whole idea is racist, sexist and discriminatory. We need to stop with this ignorant ideal that something is not racist, sexist and discriminatory just because they think it’s a good thing. I have no problem with having a black person on any of our currency. I think it’s a great idea. And, when it comes time to create another bill I would love to see a qualified person chosen. And, if that person is black, Asian, Latino or white I will be fine with it as long as they are deserving of the honor. But, to just up and decide, we need a woman or a black person on our money is so outrageously racist, sexist and discriminatory that it offends the senses. It is disappointing that people can’t get their heads far enough out of their asses to see this or at least admit it.
We have got to stop making excuses for this kind of subtle racism, sexism and discrimination. It doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t help the specific race it’s intended to nor does it help women. It doesn’t help change the mind of evil minded and hurtful racists so we have to ask ourselves, what is the point? It’s like arriving on the scene of an horrible accident and someone has lost an arm and you try to stick a band-aid in the hopes that it will help stop the bleeding. It won’t, the action is futile.
The way to end racism isn’t by forcing anyone to do anything. We have laws all over the this country that try to mask racism and all they really end up doing is making truly racist people more racist. It’s that old saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. What you can do is offer the water and let the horse drink it when it’s ready. There two outcomes to this scenario. One, the horse eventually gets thirsty enough and drinks the water. Two, the horse dies. Either way, the problem is solved.
The way you end racism is through example and knowledge. Right now, there is no valid reason to put Harriet Tubman’s Face On the $20 Bill. Just because we want something doesn’t make it a good idea or does it mean that it’s good for us. All doing this is gong to do is piss off a bunch of ignorant, stupid, racist people. And, though, the thought of a bunch of racist idiots being somewhat forced to carry around a picture of a back person in their pockets, wallets and purses amuses me. I guarantee you that what is going to happen is that these racist fucknuts are going to stop carrying any of the new bills. There will be shortages of 10 dollar bills in the southern states. I know it sounds outrageous but one of our biggest problems in this country is underestimating the abilities of stupid people to stupid things on a mass scale.
I just simply cannot support the idea of adding Harriet Tubman’s Face On the $20 Bill just because she was black or a woman. And, whether you want to believe it or not she is only being considered for this honor because she was in fact a black person and a woman. No matter how you look at it’s sexist, racist and discriminatory. All you need to do is look at how this current movement started. A women’s group made a poll. People voted in it. The final vote came down to these choices, Tubman, Wilma Mankiller, Eleanor Roosevelt and Rosa Parks. Tubman squeaked by and won with 118,328 narrowly beating out Eleanor Roosevelt who had 111,227 votes. When the vote is rigged, the outcome is inevitable. Make no mistake, if you want a woman on the 20 bill and you offer up a vote and the only options are women, you’re going to end up with a woman 100 percent of the time.
As I said, I don’t have a problem with having a black person or a woman on the 20 dollar bill or any other bill. I think it would be cool to have our money eventually consists of people from many different races, sexes and sexual orientations. What I have a problem with is doing it just because we don’t have these people represented on our money.
However, all this being said, if our Secretary of the Treasury decides to put Harriet Tubman’s Face On the $20 Bill I am certainly not going to complain about it and I will have no problems spending the currency. What I will sadly feel is that it wasn’t earned in this circumstance, because it wasn’t. I am not saying Tubman isn’t worthy of being on our money, she most certainly is and I would argue with anyone who thinks other wise.
Let me try to explain what I mean in other terms. There was a time when I wasn’t that popular in school. One of the more popular kids was having a big party for his 7th birthday. I was one of the last kids to get invited. When I did get an invite I was so surprised. I was thrilled! I was also kind of proud of myself because for a moment I had the mistaken thought that I was being invited to the party because this kid, let’s call him “Jason”, liked me.
Of course that euphoria lasted for just a short time. I had been so thrilled that I told my parents when I got home. They congratulated me and took me out to get a present for Jason later that evening. I knew this event was going to change everything! I would soon be one of the popular kids and I couldn’t wait. I picked out a Stretch Amrstrong for Jason. He was going to love it and my destiny would be forever changed!
After arriving at the party a few days later I was confronted by another friend of Jason’s. He let me know that I wasn’t invited to Jason’s party because he liked me and wanted to friends with me. He only did it because his mother told him he had to invite everyone in his class so that no one would feel left out. He didn’t want me there. No one did. I was humiliated. I was on the verge of tears and wanted to go home. I was taunted in school for a while over it because I the kid who actually showed up thinking I was wanted.
Putting Harriet Tubman’s Face On the $20 Bill for the reasons she is being considered for now is like me being invited to that party. Sure it was nice to be asked but if I had understood that I was being asked not because I was wanted but rather because I was in the same class, I wouldn’t have gone. I wouldn’t have wasted my parents money on such an cool gift. And, most of all, I would have had a greater sense of self-worth.
What make this story similar is that as I later found out, “Jason” did want me at the party. As it turned out he had thought I was pretty cool. Though I had in fact just been asked because his mother said that he had to ask everyone in his class. I was one of those people that he actually wanted to ask to his party. I didn’t find this until a few weeks had passed and it was great to hear but it didn’t change the way I had felt. It had really hurt feeling that the only reason I was asked there was because Jason had to ask me. It really effect my sense of self-worth. It hurt even after I knew he did want to be friends. I knew that other people though the only reason I had been invited was because of his mother.
My point here being that Harriet Tubman is absolutely worthy of being on the 20 dollar bill, there is no question of this. It’s the reasoning for putting her that bothers me and I think should bother more of us. We shouldn’t be doing anything because a person’s race, religion or sexuality. We should be making these types of decisions based solely upon their qualifications and nothing else. Any other reasoning is a belittlement to their accomplishments and all that such an honor should represent. I would rather say, “Look at Harriet Tubman’s Face On the $20 Bill! How cool is that?!” because I know she is on the bill because she earned it, not just because she was a woman first, black second and her accomplishments a distant third.
