Donald and Steven Meet Mrs. Tubman: Why Harriet Tubman’s Place of Honor Can Wait No More.

Awhile ago when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was questioned about his inexplicable delay in putting Civil War heroine Harriet Tubman on the front of the $20.00 bill, he stalled. “It’s not something I am focused on at the moment.” That was 2017.

His boss, Donald Trump had declaimed the effort to replace Andrew Jackson with Mrs. Tubman as “political correctness.” (The actual proposal is to put Jackson on the back and Tubman on the front of the twenty). Trump has apparently suggested that maybe Harriet Tubman might be appropriate for the $2.00 bill.

Far be it from me to wonder if Donald Trump knows any history — I admit that I need to do more research on Mrs. Tubman’s life and exploits. But, before they dismiss a woman known as “Moses” to the two dollar bill (when was the last time you saw one), maybe Steven and Donald should check the history against the politics.

Harriet Tubman was, among other things, a war hero. Yes, during the Civil War Mrs. Tubman actually led slaves in an insurgency to Beaufort, S.C. Had she not been Black and a women, Harriet Tubman might have been a General.

Remember, Donald how you have. claimed to love your great generals? Well, when you. honor. Harriet Tubman you could be honoring someone who should have been recognized as one — except for that old military bureaucracy. That’s one reason to honor her.

Harriet Tubman was an intelligence officer — a spy. It is well-documented that Mrs. Tubman provided. intelligence that led to the capture of Jacksonville, Florida. This was long before we had an F. B. I. or a C.I. A. — if they existed during the Civil War, Harriet Tubman would deserve to be honored there.

Harriet Tubman was a self-starter and an entrepreneur. And she never got any money from her parents. Mrs. Tubman began her “Underground Railroad” on her own initiative. That made her an innovator, as she carried. out some 13 expeditions to free slaves during the era before the Civil War. In doing so, Mrs. Tubman not only sought no governmental subsidies or assistance, but she actually defied government regulations — including the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850.

Despite this, Mrs.Tubman never lost a “passenger.” You can relate to that, right Donald?

Mrs. Tubman was an early Second Amendment supporter. I know you can relate to that Donald. The story is that Harriet always carried a pistol on her railroad. Once when one passenger wanted to turn back from the road to freedom, Mrs. Tubman pointed that pistol, and intoned: “ You go on or you die.”

That sounds pretty strong for that Second Amendment, Don. And it is unlikely that Mrs. Tubman had a conceal and carry permit. What’s politically correct about that?

Mrs. Harriet Tubman was a devout Christian — so devout it is said that she sang spirituals to signal to those waiting for the “Railroad” to arrive to take its passengers northward. She also was known to pray and to have spiritual visions. Near the end of her life she even helped establish a charity. Sounds like people that you might like, Donald.

Mrs. Tubman was a veteran who had to fight the bureaucrats for her pension. Yes, after Harriet Tubman had served her nation as a scout, a spy, and a nurse, who led insurgent actions, the government somehow kept ignoring her pension. It took an Act of Congress over thirty years after the end of the Civil War to award her (ironically) twenty dollars a month. Yes, the same amount that now should bear her picture on the bill denomination.

Yes, Donald and Steve, I could go on. I could even tell you how Harriet Tubman did healthcare at a time when there was probably no health insurance — caring for troops in Virginia; or like cooking for the Union troops who fought that battle depicted in the movie “Glory.” Or fighting for women’s suffrage. But no need. I just wanted you to meet Harriet Tubman — the woman who has long deserved to be on the front of the twenty dollar bill. Now what was your excuse again?

-Albert Turner Goins