George Floyd was murdered because of a $20 bill

A bill bearing the likeness of Andrew Jackson.

Andrew Jackson was an unrepentant slave owner who had the US Postmaster General censor mailings from abolitionists. His wealth was borne of slave labor and he regularly offered bounties on runaway slaves, plus a $10 bonus for every 100 lashes given, up to 300. As a general, he suspended habeas corpus and executed prisoners for minor infractions. As a President, his economic policies led directly to the Panic of 1837 (in which 343 banks failed). As an ethnic cleanser, he broke treaties, stopped annuity payments owed to Native tribes, and was the power behind the Trail of Tears. As a partisan egoist, he appointed unqualified, inexperienced judges, and suppressed dissent from critics, even imprisoning a senator for criticizing him in a newspaper. 

Jackson was to be replaced on the $20 bill this year by Harriet Tubman.

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery. She was whipped and beaten as a child, had her skull broken as a teen, and as an adult she escaped to the north. Not content with her own freedom she went back thirteen times on missions to liberate enslaved people and guide fugitives to safety. When the Civil War began, she worked for the Union Army and was the first woman to lead an armed expedition that liberated more than 700 slaves. Despite her heroics she never received a military salary and was denied a soldier’s pension for decades. She continued her work, later advocating for women’s suffrage, while living in poverty.

Of these two notable Americans, who is most worthy of representing the better nature of our country? 

Which person’s character would you hope to instill in your children?

If you’re religious, which person embodies the ideals of your faith?

I ask this because George Floyd died over a piece of paper.

That piece of paper is a symbol.

Our current President’s character was on full display––he showed us who he sees as the American ideal––when he stopped Harriet Tubman from appearing on the twenty-dollar-bill and moved Andrew Jackson’s presidential portrait to his Oval Office.

His actions were signals, inaudible demonstrations, to those with similar views, validating their bigotry, hatred, and tolerance––if not outright celebration––of cruelty and inequality. 

It’s my hope that those peacefully demonstrating in the streets will be heard, that they'll be safe, and that by exercising their right to protest they will compel those in power to find cures for the malignant, systemic cancers that have plagued our country for generations. 

I also hope they'll lift Harriet out of our history books and to her rightful place as a symbol, reminding Americans of what real greatness is, every time they visit an ATM.