During the Obama administration, a plan was made and put into action to replace Andrew Jackson’s ugly mug on the $20 bill. Obama wanted Harriet Tubman on the $20, and there was tons of support for it because A) there aren’t any women on our paper money and B) Tubman was seen as a historical figure whose legacy was unproblematic in every way. I mean, who is going to argue that, WELL ACTUALLY Harriet Tubman wasn’t a cool AF Union spy who freed slaves and lived an amazing life, right? Except that it takes time to make those kinds of changes, and the Tubman-20 was left to executed by the Trump administration. They’ve put an indefinite hold on it.

The Trump administration has no plans to unveil a new $20 bill this year bearing the image of Harriet Tubman — a former slave, abolitionist and “conductor” on the Underground Railroad — despite nationwide calls to correct longstanding racial injustices that have fueled protests in recent weeks. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that a new $20 bill would not be released until 2030 and that a future secretary would make the decision about whether Andrew Jackson would be replaced as the face of the note.

Mr. Mnuchin called it a “myth” that he was delaying the change, despite the fact that the Obama administration had initiated a timeline that would have had the Treasury Department unveil a design of the bill in 2020, the centennial of the 19th Amendment establishing women’s suffrage. In a news briefing, the Treasury secretary said that redesigning the currency required developing complicated anticounterfeiting technology and a new printing process, which takes many years.

“This is something that is in the distant future,” Mr. Mnuchin said. Asked if the process should be accelerated in response to recent unrest, Mr. Mnuchin said that the currency timelines were set by career officials in an extensive interagency process. The $10 bill is next to be redesigned and released in 2026, and Mr. Mnuchin indicated that he had no intention of replacing Alexander Hamilton, the first Treasury secretary, on that bill.

Mr. Mnuchin demurred as to whether he personally believed Tubman should ever be added to the $20. “I’m not going to comment on it because, as I’ve said, it’s not going to be my decision,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “It’s going to be a Treasury secretary’s decision in the future.”

Mr. Mnuchin did compare changing the money to altering monuments in Washington, but then was careful to say that he was not taking any position on the matter. President Trump has expressed his opposition to removing monuments or renaming military facilities that pay homage to the United States’ history of racism. As a candidate in 2016, he said that he did not believe that Tubman should replace Jackson, who was a slave owner, and called the idea “pure political correctness.”

[From The NY Times]

So… yeah. To be clear, Trump and his minions are pro-Confederacy and pro-slavery and pro-violence against anyone who disagrees with them. They don’t want any of the Confederate statues ripped down, and they don’t want Harriet Tubman on the $20. Mnuchin could have fought this, I’m sure, but he decided not to expend any political capital on it because ultimately, he doesn’t give a f–k.

George Floyd was murdered over a $20 bill. A bill bearing the face of Andrew Jackson, unrepentant slaveholder and the man responsible for the Trail of Tears.

Harriet Tubman was to go on that bill this year but our racist President stopped it.

Demand the bill change. This year. pic.twitter.com/rCRh6Jfw6M

— Jamie Ford (@JamieFord) June 4, 2020

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red and Backgrid.