Pie on the Harriet Tubman $20.00 Bill – “Works for Me”

harriet-tubman-wanted-posterPosted by Tina

Works for me too Pie, especially after reading the excellent National Review article you posted to comments, which begins:

Harriet Tubman is a good choice to replace Andrew Jackson on the front of the $20 bill. Jackson, the first Democratic president, is exactly the sort of overheated, pompous populist that has tended to screw up the American political system. His demotion to the back of the bill is long overdue.

But before we act to raise Tubman’s stature to the point that she is memorialized on commonly used currency, it behooves Americans to understand her role in our common history. It’s a lot more interesting than the description of her as an “Underground Railroad conductor” that appears in my son’s elementary-school materials and many popular accounts of her life.

In fact, Harriett Tubman was a gun-toting, Jesus-loving spy who blazed the way for women to play a significant role in military and political affairs.

I urge all of who follow Post Scripts to read the full article and learn a bit of history that was left out of your early public school training. Tubman is the perfect example of a trail blazer. She stood on her own two feet and personally worked toward her goal of freedom for her family and others (300 or more) held in slavery. She also acted as an intelligence figure during the civil war:

Tubman’s exploits on the Underground Railroad, quick wits, mastery of stealth, knowledge of local geography, and personal bravery made her a near-perfect scout and spy. She could often “hide” in plain sight, since white-supremacist southerners probably were not inclined to consider a small African-American woman a threat.

Her exploits as an informant and scout for the North included commanding “a significant number of U.S. troops in combat,” a raid that freed more slaves than her work on the Underground Railroad.

The wanted poster above accused Tubman of shooting slaves who wanted to escape her clutches, an idea I find absurdly typical of slave owner propaganda. But if there is truth to the accusation she did it because she had to in the best interests of the larger goal of freedom for her people and winning war.

Tubman is a woman who didn’t wait for permission. She was a woman who followed her own conscience to do what she thought was right. She typifies what I believe is the real weight behind positive change…an individual acting in his own best interest and the best interests of others who are served through his efforts. Protest may have contributed but it was the bravery and effort of people like Tubman that made the real difference. Her efforts made manifest the idea that all people are created equal” she represents the type of energy and action that makes manifest the American Dream.

Thanks Pie, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss the opportunity to read the amazing Harriett Tubman story.

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17 Responses to Pie on the Harriet Tubman $20.00 Bill – “Works for Me”

  1. Peggy says:

    She was the model for the Republican platform. Her being on the front and Jackson being on the back will reflect the stark contrast between the two parties.

    “In short, Harriet Tubman was a black, Republican, gun-toting, veterans’ activist, with ninja-like spy skills and strong Christian beliefs.”

    Jackson was an anti-Indian and anti-Black racist Democrat.

  2. Pie Guevara says:

    Nice to see this get front page status.

    Off Topic again, Celebrating Earth Day …

    18 spectacularly wrong predictions made around the time of the first Earth Day in 1970, expect more this year

  3. Chris says:

    Good article, and I agree completely.

    That said…you don’t believe that is a real wanted poster, do you?

    • Tina says:

      I chose the image quickly Chris and frankly didn’t give it much thought. As is often the case I had other things on my mind and deadlines to meet.

      You wouldn’t be going out of your way to embarrass a bigwig would you?

      • Tina says:

        You wouldn’t further be going out of your way to deflect attention from the significance of this independent, self reliant, mover and shaker of a woman who didn’t wait for permission to follow her conscience would you, Chris?

        As far as I’m concerned that is a major point for honoring this amazingly strong woman who accomplished so much even without the vote and modern feminists screaming “no fair!”

  4. Pie Guevara says:

    Re Chris: “That said…you don’t believe that is a real wanted poster, do you?”

    Umm, pardon me, but what does it matter? The message is the message regardless of the image deployed. What a jerk. A monumental jerk. A Quibbling anal-retentive fool with far too much time on his hands.

    • Chris says:

      It matters because gullibility and easily influenced thinking matters. The error doesn’t take away from the overall message of the article, which is Tubman’s heroism and awesomeness, but it does show that the author of the article is easily fooled. This has been relevant in the past, and will likely be relevant in the future.

      • Pie Guevara says:

        Perfect response. Excellent. I play you like a cheap violin. Just like I said, an anal-retentive fool with too much time on his hands. Thank you for proving me correct by you being you! A silly arrogant jackass being a jackass.

        If it is true that you are actually a teacher in K-12, I pity your students. I can just hear it now in the hallways, “Did you get that jerk Chris for home room? AUUUUUGH!”

        • Chris says:

          Again, I’m baffled as to why you would think I’d talk to children the same way I talk to adults who should know better. I assume you don’t walk around calling people “negro burner” in the real world, but hey, I don’t know your life.

          • Pie Guevara says:

            Weird. The baffled Chris lives in two worlds. Both appear to be fantasy concoctions that are centered around Post Scripts for some reason.

  5. Tina says:

    Chris has been “fooled” by a party, and it’s radical Marxist ideology, and he imagines he can lecture on being “easily fooled.”

    In any case, I was not “fooled.” I was hasty in my choice and I was hasty because I had obligations that rise above the level of “hobby.”

    Chris should get over himself.

    • Chris says:

      I still don’t know what this is supposed to mean or what the answer to my question was. I asked a yes or no question, and have yet to hear either a “yes” or a “no.” There was no attempt to embarrass, but both you and Pie have overreacted to my question in such a needlessly defensive manner, you’ve only caused yourselves further embarrassment.

      • Tina says:

        Nice try, Chris. I don’t believe you. You have a record here that makes it impossible to trust you.

        I answered the question truthfully. Take it or leave it.

  6. Pie Guevara says:

    Re Chris: “That said…you don’t believe that is a real wanted poster, do you?”

    The always critical, anal-retentive one objects to being called anal-retentive! Whoop-de-do. I would advise Chris to get a life, but he keeps displaying he has none, so wasted advice.

    Chris has nothing better to do than whine about a Post Scripts image about Harriet Tubman? Yes, he does not. Would you want this dork teaching your kids?

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