February 18, 2020

If it's a good idea to put Harriet Tubman's image on U.S. currency, why isn't it also okay to use her on this debit card? Is it that the user is a bank? Or is it that hand gesture?


I'm reading "This Black-Owned Bank Put Harriet Tubman on a Debit Card and Social Media Lost It/OneUnited president and artist stand behind the design" (AdWeek).

AdWeek quotes 2 tweeters:

• "Harriet didn’t die for this" — Didn't die for black people to own banks and to have their own money and to spend it conveniently? What is freedom? Does it not include the freedom to amass wealth and to engage in commercial transactions and to do so with the convenience of a debit card?

• "Let me guess. A white marketing executive from Beverly Hills came up with the idea of a Harriet Tubman Visa Debit Card doing the Wakanda Forever salute" — But, we are told, the artist, Addonis Parker, says he started the painting before the movie came out and intended the gesture as "love" in American Sign Language. Compare:





The president of OneUnited Bank, Teri Williams says:

“When the decision was made to delay putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, we said we think that we have a role to play here because we can actually put her on a global payment instrument.... We put out many images that are unapologetically black... [b]ecause we believe that it’s important for us to celebrate our culture and to communicate to the world that Black money matters.... This is who we are. We’re black all day, every day.... We’re here for our community, and our focus is really on being unapologetically and authentically black."
You might think the image should look more like what the Treasury Department proposed for the $20:



But the black-owned bank — "unapologetically and authentically black" — chose an image painted by a black artist.

87 comments:

Roger Sweeny said...

I sure hope they don't discriminatorily hire black people. That would be illegal.

Expat(ish) said...

I don’t own any affiliate cards. I’d get that one for any number of reasons.

No reason in our on demand economy to even have to use the same card image as everyone else.

Shop the Althouse portal with the “men not in shorts”:debit card...

-DC

mockturtle said...

Tubman was a staunch Christian but that wouldn't play well on either currency. Black Power good. Christianity bad.

tim in vermont said...

I might start identifying as black if it means you get to tell the white left to go pound sand.

Curious George said...

"Or is it that hand gesture?"

Looks like she's ready to have some handcuffs slapped on her.

Chris said...

Unless you show the picture of Harriet Tubman with a gun and an outstretched hand, I'm not interested in her being on any card or currency.

stevew said...

They're trying to win users of their card, which will put money in their accounts and the bank. Probably increasing coverage and profit. I don't believe issuing this card is intended to do any more than that.

tim in vermont said...

"This is who we are. We’re black all day, every day.... “

Wait a minute, you don’t need the white left to speak for you?

Fernandinande said...

Tubman represents the fact that blacks in the US are extremely lucky that some of their ancestors were slaves, so they're not living in Africa and wanting to move here.

tim in vermont said...

"I don't believe issuing this card is intended to do any more than that.”

God bless America.

Shouting Thomas said...

This is who we are.

The contemporary confession of absolutely empty headed stupidity.

rehajm said...

It's like making any comment about jazz- there will be a mob there to shame you, no matter what you say...

Now if one was looking for racism...the bank only offers a secured credit card, to 'rebuild your credit'. All black people have wrecked their credit histories? Where's the affinity credit card that offers cash back or air miles?

Fernandinande said...

I sure hope they don't discriminatorily hire black people. That would be illegal.

Well, they have a token white male.

wendybar said...

Harriet Tubman was a gun toting Republican.

tim maguire said...

"Harriet didn’t die for this"

Harriet Tubman died in old age of pneumonia.

Ralph L said...

Shouldn't they be putting a Cherokee on the $20?

I'm now waiting for Wells Fargo to send me my new card with a 1959 Cadillac on it. They rejected the V-16 photo, I guess because the Cadillac shield was visible. The chip makes it difficult to find a car photo that'll look OK.

Fernandinande said...

We’re black all day, every day.... We’re here for our community, and our focus is really on being unapologetically and authentically black."

They sure look like mulattos, less black than Obama; I bet they're more than half genetically European. What could be more unapologetically and authentically European than running a bank?

Shouting Thomas said...

Let us count the bullshit HR, identity politics buzzwords:

1. Black empowerment (with cap B for emphasis)
2. unapologetically black (with no cap b)
3. celebrate our culture
4. communicate to the world
5. This is who we are. We’re black all day, every day
6. unapologetically and authentically black (with no cap b)

In the world of bullshit HR buzzwords, unabashed black racism is a very good thing!

Limited blogger said...

They will put Bernie's face on the government id card you'll need to get your rations of powdered milk, and toilet paper.

gilbar said...

where's her pistol ?

narciso said...

isnt one united, Maxine waters husbands bank, which had some irregularities, and leadless to say Wakanda isn't real, although they substitute Zulu dialect, in the film,

Bob Boyd said...

we can actually put her on a global payment instrument

Tubcoin

Kevin said...

So far the 21st century consists of people being upset at what other people should be upset about.

narciso said...

it rang a bell

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Because it's shameless pandering. Which, patronizing White liberals and cash-hungry Toms notwithstanding, Black people tend to recognize. Black men, anyway. Women of all colors just eat this stuff up.

Dave Begley said...

Every bank has to come up with something to differentiate itself from the competition. Being black owned and issuing a HT debit card is all part of affinity marketing.

First National Bank in Omaha has Creighton and Nebraska branded cards.

Bob Boyd said...

My debit card doesn't have a picture on it, but it's the color of Donald Trump.
Haven't heard anybody shriek yet.

Otto said...

Black-owned bank - "Saunders calls the approach “compassionate lending.” “We’re going to be with [our customers] through the good times and the bad times,” she says.

Would you seriously put your money in her bank?

A doomed and illogical concept.

Kevin said...

My debit card doesn't have a picture on it, but it's the color of Donald Trump.

Dog whistle banking.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

It's because it looks like someone crossed a raisin with a monkey and got a zombie.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Did Tubman know sign language?

I suppose it's a debit card, and not a credit card, for a reason. Anyway, if they ever put out a credit card, I want one!

BarrySanders20 said...

I am going to be unapologetically white today. Walk the dogs, rebalance the 401k portfolio, and vote in a primary election. Try not to get outraged and keep an even keel.

tim in vermont said...

"First National Bank in Omaha has Creighton and Nebraska branded cards.”

I used to work for a company that supported those cards many years ago, we shared office space with them, our group was more of a “skunk works” I remember it because those employees were mostly black and it was during the OJ trial. What a day that was.

tim in vermont said...

"Did Tubman know sign language?”

Give the artist room to breathe!

CJinPA said...

Anger Olympics don't care about reason.

Our new $20 bill will be great. All healthy nations go out of there way to relentlessly remind its people of the worst things the nation did, right?

Kevin said...

Everything is racist:

A brawl broke out at a Bernie Sanders rally in Colorado on Sunday when a supporter of the Vermont senator confronted another man for wearing a T-shirt that read “Black Guns Matter,” a report said.

The man sporting the shirt, who is black, told CBS Denver that he was recording the presidential hopeful at the Colorado Convention Center when another rally attendee called him “racist” because of his shirt.

“He had a problem with the shirt I was wearing,” the man, who was not identified, told the news station.

“I was recording the event, he walks up and calls me a racist. But I thought, ‘What’s he know about black lives, about discrimination, or, for that matter, the representation of the shirt.’”

rhhardin said...

The first woman on the currency ought to be Sasquatch as a salute to feminism.

Ken B said...

There was no decision to delay. This myth has been debunked. Normal processes.

chuck said...

I'm surprised Pete Seeger didn't get a copyright on Harriet Tubman.

Ken B said...

I hope the bank stands firm. All it takes to beat the twitterati is to ignore them. The more people do this the better.

rcocean said...

Harriet Taubman is a media creation of white people. The first book about her was a "As told to" book 4 years after the war by a white female who wrote Children's books. After that, she more or less faded away, until the Civil Rights movement decided to make her into an Icon.

The Wikipedia article is full of extremely dubious stuff - I sincerely doubt she led a "armed raid" on Confederate plantations. Soldiers in the Civil War didn't follow petticoats into battle.

Ralph L said...

Can't they find a nubile Nubian for the $20?

Someone should count the number of times Tubman has been named on Jeopardy. I'll bet she's in the top 5.

rcocean said...

I nominate Pocahontas for the $20 bill.

rcocean said...

If you really want a black person on the $20 - put Frederick Douglas on it. He was a substantial historical figure.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Old Maxine Waters' hubby once served on the board of One United Bank.

Ken B said...

Btw, I dislike the gesture on the card,which is quite unlike the love gesture, but my taste isn’t relevant. What matters is staring down the Twitter mob and the cancellers.

Ken B said...

Otto
No, advertising bullshit. Like “cruel neutrality”.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

That's not Harriet Tubman! That's one of their loan officers, being asked for a loan.

Fernandinande said...

The first woman on the currency ought to be Sasquatch as a salute to feminism.

I think the first woman should be an ocean sunfish because she releases a very womanly 300 million eggs per year, and almost all of them are aborted.

Howard said...

Sasquatch sounds like the birthing squat women used back in the hunter-gatherer days

purplepenquin said...

I might start identifying as black if it means you get to tell the white left to go pound sand.

Ain't nuttin'stoppin' you from doing so now...'cept your own personally-perceived fears&worries.

Heck - saying "go pound sand" is a lot tamer than the death threats that are constantly posted on this blog by other commentators towards the left and those they perceive to be the left, and nothing at all happens to them - don't know why you feel the need to be holding back from what you really wanna say. Stop living in constant fear and speak your mind for a change.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

rhhardin The first woman on the currency ought to be Sasquatch as a salute to feminism.

Sasquatch is the Big Foot of the NW Pacific. Did you mean Sacagawea? They already put her on a dollar coin.

I have a couple as collectible curiosities. People hated them. Especially merchants because they were easily confused with lesser value coins because of the size of the coin.

Fernandinande said...

Money featuring a Sasquatch riding a sunfish with a laser beam on its head would have some appeal for just about everyone, because money.

LYNNDH said...

How about George Washington Carver or maybe one or several of the Tuskegee Airman?
I will do what I can to not carry any of the new 20's.

n.n said...

Blacks selling blacks. Blacks lynching blacks. Hutu vs Tutsi etc. Color blocs. Diversity. Progress.

Big Mike said...

The bank is authentically black, but what about the people complaining? Does the twitter mob include lily white students in Ivy League dorm rooms? Maybe Shaun King and Rachel Dolezal?

And Harriet Tubman didn’t die “for” anything. She died of natural causes at approximately age 91 (as a slave her date of birth was not recorded).

purplepenquin said...

"Harriet Tubman was a gun toting Republican."

So was Teddy Roosevelt. But that was before the GOP was hijacked by Big Business Special Interests & turned into the political party it is today.

Seeing Red said...

The party of the middle class?

Clyde said...

I liked this version better:

Better design for Harriet Tubman $20

Big Mike said...

@Purple Penguin, go change your diapers.

Just as a side note, in your shoes I wouldn’t worry about people making threats. In your shoes I would worry about former Vice Presidents threatening to come after people opposed to his policies with F-16s and Hellfire missiles. That could start something that won’t be finished on anything like your terms.

rosebud said...

Dust Bunny Queen--

The Sacajawea dollar coins shouldn't be easily confused with any other denomination as they are gold colored, as are all for-circulation dollar coins made in the past 20 or so years. The Susan B. Anthony dollar coins of 1979-1999 were the same color as quarters, and only slightly larger. Confusion between the SBAs and quarters was an issue, as well as the fact that the SBAs were just plain ugly.

Nichevo said...

the GOP was hijacked by Big Business Special Interests & turned into the political party it is today


It's funny that you make this claim. Apparently it is a well-rehearsed piece of Democratic lore-I just heard the exact same from a D friend. Perhaps there is even an element of truth to it, though if I were interested to engage, I would still have to see it picked apart piece by piece.

However, somehow you never refer to, except to scorn, the equivalent or greater allegations of Democratic political machine corruption and, in particular, the alliance of Democratic political structures with criminal organizations. For instance, as in The Gangs of New York, Tammany Hall and so forth.

Democratic politicians are always being associated with organized crime, or just their own personal variety, and it's funny how it just doesn't seem to have the same bad associations. I wonder why that is. Robinhood I guess. But honestly, y'all are the sheriff.

purplepenquin said...

Just as a side note, in your shoes I wouldn’t worry about people making threats

Oh, I ain't really that worried about it. The guys who are talking about killin' all-the-time remind me of the guys who talk about fuckin' all-the-time. More likely than not it's just a buncha bluster and completely made up.

But then again - there really are a lotta wackos out there, so maybe they are sincere about starting a civil war and hanging all the "lefties" if Trump isn't re-elected.

You think they are just shit-talking? Or you think they really mean it?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

@ Rosebud

Ah. Thanks. Perhaps I have confused the two coins and the time frame. SBA and Sacajawea.

I remember hating the SBA coins when I was in banking. Mainly because it required a whole new 'set up' for coin trays. Our bank didn't buy new trays. (Cheap bastards) When you are quickly trying to make change at a bank or in a store it was just a PITA. The SBA coins ended up in a jar lid or something in the drawers.

Known Unknown said...

Why do we have a problem with this again? (The Royal "We')

purplepenquin said...

It's funny that you make this claim. Apparently it is a well-rehearsed piece of Democratic lore

It's funny you assume I have a "D" behind my name. And apparently that is a well-rehearsed piece among party loyalists, on both sides of the aisle. When I don't 100% support the Dems they accuse me of being an R, and when I don't 100% support the Repubs they accuse me of being an D.

*shrug*

Anywhos...it ain't just lore - 'tis actual history. Read up a bit about why Roosevelt left the GOP and ran for office under the Bull Moose banner & you'll get to learn some things they didn't teach ya in your history classes.

Matt said...

This is an excellent opportunity to bridge history and the present. Keep Harriet on the card but have her twerking with a gun in one hand, a joint in the other and a speech bubble with her saying 'knowahmsayin nigguh'. Oh, and put in 4 or 5 illegitimate babies around her feet.

Voila. You have captured black American history and their "contributions" to modern US culture all in one image.

tim in vermont said...

"Big Business Special Interests & turned into the political party it is today.” You are talking about the Democrats right? The party of the billionaires. In order to even out the ranks of billionaires aligned with each party, you have to count the ones on the Republican side twice, and throw in the Koch Bros, who are a much better fit with the Democrats.

So now they have turned to the Democrats and the Republicans are returning to their roots.

walter said...

The love gesture doesn't come across with that stern facial expression.
It looks like a slapdash Photoshop composite.
In other news:
Man charged with kidnapping woman, forcing her to watch Roots to understand her racism

stlcdr said...

"I've got five Tubmans for ya"....does'nt have a nice ring to it.

"How about four Harriets?" ....sounds good. Lets do it!

purplepenquin said...

How the heck can someone respond to my comment(s) when she has stated in the past that she never reads 'em?

I really do hope the Republicans would return to their roots. Our country needs a strong progressive* political party in order to counter what we currently have.


*"a social or political movement that aims to represent the interests of ordinary people through political change and the support of government actions"

Narr said...

"It's all about the Harriets" has a nice ring.

Narr
Moving with the times

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Missing is a brace of 1851 Navy cap and ball revolvers in those determined hands. Love it.

Jebus! Imana go shred my Washington Savings and Loan card. Assholes using our sainted First President for commercial purposes.

tim in vermont said...

"when she has stated in the past that she never reads ‘em?”

I don’t usually read them, but never say never. Usually your petulance is a turn off.

"*"a social or political movement that aims to represent the interests of ordinary people through political change”

You were doing good right up to that point. But a government action to adjust market conditions to raise wages at the bottom by stopping the influx of scabs coming across the border willing to work without labor protections and really cheap, does that count? If so, sign me up. If by that you mean the “libertarian” concept, that’s what you are. right, a libertarian, that the government should take money out of some people’s pockets and put it in others as its reason for being? Well, no.

Earnest Prole said...

If you google "Obama dancing" you'll see he gets down just like Harriet Tubman.

Bilwick said...

A gun-toting, religious Republican? Disgusting.

Birkel said...

Let's make the argument here that Althouse uses against traditional values. What argument can minorities put forward that effectively resists white, woke females? How can they overcome the vast cultural influence that a white, woke, female minority exerts in popular culture?

Or does society simply ignore the barking of those sad bitches while the caravan moves on?

Jamie said...

The Sacajawea, or Golden, Dollar coin: my husband and I recently came clean to our kids about what we'd done all through their childhood. The Tooth Fairy, you see, dealt exclusively in Golden Dollars. Because they were not common and were pretty, the kids would never spend them - they'd squirrel them away. So we'd sneak in after a few weeks and take back the prior tooth's payment, only to re-gift it when the next tooth came out. There were never more than three Golden Dollars.

Our kids, now ranging from 22 to 16, were scandalized, but (since they know us) not particularly surprised.

Static Ping said...

My issues are (a) the picture of Harriet is not the least bit flattering and (b) it has a bit of an uncanny valley vibe to it. It looks like a very amateur photoshop effort.

Paco Wové said...

"it has a bit of an uncanny valley vibe to it"

It reminds me of an Andean mummy.

cubanbob said...

Purple is bitching about Republicans while two billionaires are running as Democrats. Some people are just oblivious to reality.

Big Mike said...

You think they are just shit-talking? Or you think they really mean it?

@Purple Penguin, I think we are closer to a genuine Second Civil War than we have ever been, and I came of age in the 1960s. I think if Trump loses in an honest election, I think there will be grumbling, but that’ll be it. A whiff of cheating? All bets off. Removed from office on flaky grounds? Assassinated? I hope we don’t go there.

tim in vermont said...

This thing that’s been going on for a while of harsh “justice” for Republicans while looking the other way on Democrats is really rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. When Hillary skates if there is any possible theory that she shouldn’t be prosecuted, no matter how tenuous, or even illusory, like the difference between “extreme carelessness” and “gross negligence” when with Trump, it’s exactly the opposite, when any theory of guilt no matter how. tenuous, or even imaginary, is enough to throw one of his allies in the slammer and throw away the key,

If you have law only for one side, soon enough you will have no law as it will have completely lost its legitimacy.

tim in vermont said...

Oh yeah, and lack of intent on the email thing, when there was no provision regarding intent in the law. If you did it, you were guilty, unless your name was Hillary, of course. Lots of people rotting in prison for what Hillary did.

Big Mike said...

In fairness to Purple Penguin, there was a time when business organizations, such as the US Chamber of Commerce, played an outsized role in selecting candidates. But the result was a Republican Party that kowtowed to big business and casually ignored small business, while at the same time big businessmen were donating heavily to the Democrats. Not bright.

Where Purple Penguin goes wrong is in assuming that this is somehow set in stone, and is still true, and must be true now and forever. Just as Obama and Bill Clinton and Democrats like Chris Dodd we’re turning the Democrats into the party of the very rich calling the shots and a bunch of identity groups handing over their votes, Trump has turned the GOP into the party of workers — including union rank and file — and small business. Big businesses have not been thrown out of the GOP coalition the way Democrats ran off straight, white, gentile males, but they no longer play a commanding role. He has gambled that economic issues will outweigh identity group solidarity at the level of the individual voter. Fingers crossed, so far he’s been right.

Nichevo said...

PP goes wrong lots of places.

purplepenquin said...
It's funny that you make this claim. Apparently it is a well-rehearsed piece of Democratic lore

It's funny you assume I have a "D" behind my name.

RIF. What makes you assume I assume that?


And apparently that is a well-rehearsed piece among party loyalists, on both sides of the aisle. When I don't 100% support the Dems they accuse me of being an R, and when I don't 100% support the Repubs they accuse me of being an D.

*shrug*

Gosh, you're a registered Independent? How special, so am I. Doesn't mean that either of us isn't largely predictable in their views and aligned with a particular party most of the time.


Anywhos...it ain't just lore - 'tis actual history. Read up a bit about why Roosevelt left the GOP and ran for office under the Bull Moose banner & you'll get to learn some things they didn't teach ya in your history classes.

2/18/20, 10:37 AM


Accuse me of ignorance? What a finely tuned response to the situation! I've never seen this before - I am crushed! Do you acknowledge my equivalent point about the much deeper problem within the Democratic party, or are you going to stick to offense?

Cato said...

In ice hockey, the crossed hands are the signal for an interference minor penalty.