People are still asking former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson what he thinks about things.
Turns out he isn’t quite on board with the Treasury Department’s recently announced decision to replace president Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill with the iconic abolitionist freedom fighter, Harriet Tubman.
“Andrew Jackson was the last president who actually balanced the federal budget, where we had no national debt,” Carson said in an interview with Fox Business on Wednesday. “In honor of that, we kick him off of the money.”
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“I love Harriet Tubman, I love what she did,” he told host Neil Cavuto. “But we can find another way to honor her. Maybe a $2 bill.”
.@RealBenCarson: "I love Harriet Tubman. I love what she did. But we can find another way to honor her." @TeamCavutohttps://t.co/2QkQy0rt5L
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) April 20, 2016
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Maybe not. The $2 bill is rarely used or seen in regular circulation, so putting Tubman on $2 wouldn’t likely have as much significance. While Jackson may have balanced the federal budget, he also oversaw the slaughter of thousands of Native Americans and owned more than 100 slaves.
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But Dr. Carson isn’t the only one reacting negatively to the news of Harriet Tubman’s new home. Many black cultural critics say the move ignores Tubman’s true legacy and dislike of an American economy built on slave-labor.
Popular author Feminista Jones writes:
Harriet Tubman did not fight for capitalism, free trade, or competitive markets… She risked her life to ensure that enslaved black people would know they were worth more than the blood money that exchanged hands to buy and sell them.