“I slid that black faced 20 right back ‘cross the counter and said I want two damn tens, hell yeah I did,” was the sentiment expressed in the most memorable meme I saw following the release of information on the new face of our dearly beloved $20 bill.
A joke, worthy of a laugh, perhaps if you can treat race relations as light heartedly as few choose to do, but with that I contend that one cannot even force themselves to ignore the underlying truths it brings to the table as well, or as many may put it ‘the little truth that lie in every joke.’
Now, if you haven’t already been brought up to date on this new edition of our many monetary faces, allow me to enlighten your poor lost soul in my sea of confusion.
A Harriet Tubman, the slave heroine herself, known for leading slaves through what is known as the underground railroad is what speculated press have communicated through innumerous social media forms as the new face of American currency that serves as our $20 bill. Wow, right?
Indeed, upon first glance one may see progress, and a win for not only women but African-American women, of whom take L’s in society daily for the simultaneous circumstance of double the minority complex that exist for us in a nation that finds it just terribly difficult to accommodate our existence.
One, like me, may just as well wonder the incentive behind this so called progress.
Why now? Why her?
Well, according to the former Republican Party candidate and retired neuro surgeon, Ben Carson, this should not be noted as a positive feat at all. In a IJ review he complained that beyond her incredible role in American history, her addition to the big face family of wealth representation serves as more of an undercut to her finer qualities and grants her the title as the new face of the diminishing value in our currency today, the face of slavery, the face of debt.
Carson spoke on it as a final move made under the Obama administration that would make Tubman “turn over in her grave if she knew she would be the new face of debt slavery.”
He went on to also say, “It is amazing how, just as the currency dwindles down to near worthlessness,” he continued, “all of a sudden the Government wants to invoke Harriet Tubman as a symbol on the twenty dollar bill.” Intriguing perspective nonetheless.
I believe that progress does not lie in the eyes of the beholder, it flourishes amidst the continual change that occurs as a natural process in life.
Whether it be negative or positive- that, my friend, is left up to you to decide how you choose to see the life you live and take in the information you are granted.
As I tend to say, per usual, allow yourself to keep an open mind as an intellectual favor when given the opportunity to expand your mental horizons. You just may see a perspective lying in the rut that shines brighter than your typical thought process passed on from meme to meme or even captivate others with your own ideals.
A friend of mine thought it ironic to put one who was famous for freeing slaves on any form of currency as he sees people as slaves to money. And the plot twist continues! Ask yourself, while divulging in thought, what do you truly think about this land marking event, what does it mean to you?
