If you had asked me which person’s face was on which US currency note, I would have been stumped. The only thing I was sure of was that it was some white guy from the distant past. Like most people, I am more concerned about the number that denotes the value rather than the ornamentation. But some people are sure upset about the decision to replace Andrew Jackson with abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the front of the $20 bill, seeing it as yet another sign of that dreaded ‘political correctness’ that is ruining America.
One can only imagine the mass hysteria and riots that would have broken out if the US had behaved like the UK and put Charles Darwin’s image on their currency though he will be replaced by Jane Austen likely in 2017.
On her show Full Frontal, Samantha Bee looks at what some of the critics are saying.
I went from America to the UK, and was thrilled to find Charles Darwin on one of the banknotes. After many months in another country, I got paid in American currency for some reason -- it was a thrill to see Benjamin again.
Benjamin Franklin deserves honor, Andrew Jackson does not. He was responsible for the Trail of Tears. He also opposed paper money. The twenty has become the most popular bill in pockets, thanks to ATMs, and it is appropriate to change the face on it.
If he were alive, I don’t think Andrew Jackson would be upset that they removed his face completely from our unconstitutional communist script. He would be jumping up and down to have it removed. He was one out of just a few that understood and hated the bankers.
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Please don’t take this as any sort of endorsement of old Andrew by me. As far as I am concerned he was still a murdering tyrant.
I see the Communist Randall Lee is still trying to distract attention from his communistic Communism by calling everyone and everything else Communist! Just typical of these sneaky Communists!
Oh, come on -- “unconstitutional communist script” must be a joke. Randall’s just been winding us up, but this time he’s over-played his hand and made it a wee bit too obvious.
scrip, not script.
I was always surprised Jackson was on the $20, instead of like FDR or something. Tubman is clearly a great choice.
I think they should have lots of different people on the bills. And (ffs!) cryptographically sign them with a machine readable barcode. Fuck, if they did that they could offer “print your own money” -- leave the face area blank and let people run the blank through a printer. Why not?
Seriously, though -- lets have 20 different portraits on the $20. And put all the old racist, imperialist, slave owning assholes on the $1 bill and people can use them to wipe their asses if they want to spend $1 that way.
Why have human faces at all? On Euro bills the images are bridges and windows from different time periods.