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Editorials
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Turning ‘Dubs’ Into ‘Tubs’
arriet Tubman is
going to become the new name associated with the $20 bill. Her portrait, that of a slave who escaped to freedom, replaces that of President Andrew Jackson, a man in- famously known as a southern slave owner.
The irony, of course, is in- escapable. Who would have ever imagined that there would come a day in U. S. history when one of its beloved dead presidents would be bumped from his position (Jackson's face will now appear on the backside of the twenty) by an African American freedom fighter?
I have to admit that when I first heard the announcement I was caught a little off guard. Knowing this country's poor track record of dealing with anyone of African descent, and understanding that everything it does has a duplicitous pur- pose, I couldn't help but won- der what inspired the move?
I want to believe that it's a sign of progress. But, to be honest, I'm not so sure?
It has been rumored for years that paper money is slowly creeping towards ex- tinction. Maybe finally placing a Black person on a monetary note is their devious way of sending a subliminal message to the world that greenbacks are, indeed, becoming obso-
lete.
I mean, that may not be the
case. But how often has this government presented any- thing that is actually what it seems?
Regardless of whether or not some other conspiracy is at play I still think it's cool to see the image of a true Black hero added to the collection of those highly coveted "big faces." It is just too bad that everyone doesn't share in the excite- ment.
When the news broke of this historic change last week one of the first voices to speak out against Tubman's image being placed on the twenty be- longed to former Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson, a person whose great-great grandparents may have benefited from Tub- man's bravery and sacrifice.
According to Dr. Carson, not only does Tubman's face have no business on the twenty but, in his opinion, the $2 bill, a currency denomination rarely seen in circulation, would have been more suit- able.
Needless to say, Dr. Car- son's comments didn't go over well with a majority of Black folks. But, to me, his point of view was nothing less than what we should come to expect from someone who's made a career of courting white favor.
Dr. Carson and many of his fellow misguided Black Re- publican brethren have a long history of playing the role of lap dogs for the racist, ultra- conservative faction of the G.O.P. They take great pride in vocalizing what the bigoted white establishment of their party is afraid to say out loud. And the saddest part is that they don't have a clue as to the extent they're being used.
None of this should be sur- prising. After all, Dr. Carson is also one of those Blacks who proudly invoke the name of Abraham Lincoln when jus- tifying his decision to become a loyal Republican.
This is the same President Lincoln who famously stated in a 1858 debate: "I will say, then, that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about, in any way, the social and political equality of the white and Black races. I, as much as any other man, am in favor of having the superior po- sition assigned to the white race."
How can you take any Black person seriously who, know- ingly or unknowingly, claims that a white Supremacist such as this is their inspiration?
At the end of the day, re- gardless of the criticisms or what is to become of paper money in the future, the fact of the matter is that, for at least a little while, a face with familiar features will soon be looking back at you from a cashier’s window. And, I guess, that's at least something we can be proud about.
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Pots, Kettles, Geese And Ganders
he old sayings, “What’s good for the goose is good
enough for the gander,” or “the pot shouldn’t call the kettle black,” come to mind when we hear Bernie Sanders harping on Hillary Clinton’s potential for “conflict of inter- est” based upon funds she received for speaking engage- ments from Wall Street corporations, super PACs and billionaire corporate executives. If this is a concern to vot- ers, then it’s only fair that voters should be concerned also about all of the presidential and congressional candidates who received donations from these sources as well, espe- cially considering that these candidates didn’t even have to give a speech for those donations.
Indeed, numerous billionaire owners and executives of Forbes 400 list and Fortune 500’ list have given millions to congressional and presidential candidates for the 2016 elec- tions. In fact, as of April 21st, presidential candidates cam- paign committees had raised $720 million dollars while their Super PACs had raised $446 million. Thus, to assume that Clinton’s speaking to corporate groups would make her any more susceptible to influence by her corporate clients than other candidates who received funds for doing nothing is ludicrous.
Wall Street entities donate heavily to both the Republi- can and Democratic National Committees. Does Sanders recommend that these groups return Super PAC’s and cor- porate executives’’ donations?
Presidential candidate Trump’s speaking fee is $1.5 mil- lion. Perhaps, Bernie needs to call Trump out as well.
Lifting Communities From Poverty By Raising
The Minimum Wage
Marc H. Morial President and CEO National Urban League
e find our population
suffering from old in- equalities, little changed by vast sporadic remedies. In spite of our efforts and in spite of our talk, we have not weeded out the over privileged and we have not effectively lifted up the un- derprivileged. Both of these manifestations of injustice have retarded happiness. No wise man has any intention of de- stroying what is known as the profit motive; because by the profit motive we mean the right by work to earn a decent liveli- hood for ourselves and for our families.” — Pres. Franklin D.
Roosevelt, State of the Union Address, January 4, 1935
As the debate over income in- equality and narrowing the ever- widening wealth gap continues to dominate our national and political conversations, private corporations and states are tak- ing matters into their own hands.
Target is reportedly raising employee wages to a $10 mini- mum in May. This would be the second wage hike in a year for the retail giant.
In the face of Congress’ re- fusal to increase the federal min- imum wage, these gestures from private enterprise and legislative offices reflect a new reality in our post-recession economy: jobs are coming back, but, they
aren’t the kinds of jobs that pay a living wage. They are not the kinds of jobs that serve as a plat- form to better paying work. And they are the kinds of jobs that employ young people, minorities and women—the most vulnera- ble members of our low-wage, slow growth recovery economy.
The Roosevelt era labor law was meant to put a floor on poverty in America, but has be- come a low ceiling barring mil- lions of workers from prosperity.
The current federal minimum wage stands at $7.25. Presi- dent Barack Obama, during a State of the Union address, said, “Let’s declare that in the wealth- iest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty.” Well, on $7.25 an hour, you can bet they will. In fact, if the minimum wage kept pace with inflation, the current minimum wage would be $19. We support a $15 minimum wage, tied to inflation.
Congress needs to do its job. Republicans supported mini- mum wage increases under Pres. George W. Bush, but have blocked all efforts to raise it since then. Rather than con- demn a generation to a lifetime of poverty, let’s afford them the opportunity to earn living wages.
Harriet Tubman Not The First Black On A Dollar Bill
Taking her place beside George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin, Harriet Tubman will become the first African American on U. S. paper money . . . right? Wrong! Or according to renowned historian J. A. Rogers, it’s wrong. And here’s why.
Writes Rogers, “Alexander Hamilton (featured on the $10 bill since 1860) was a “colored’ Native Virgin Islander (whose fellow countrymen) say that his mother was a mixed blood (mulatto) . . . (furthermore, that) the surest proof that Hamilton was of Black ancestry is that his brother, James (of the same mother and same father) also migrated to the United States where he was treated as a Negro because of his color and hair.”
The fact that the Father of America’s Financial system’s ethnicity has been hotly contested by many white re- searchers does not diminish proof presented by “the earliest and least known portrait of Hamilton drawn from life by the artist Charles Wilson Peale” where he is seen with “woolish hair common among light-skinned Negroes in the West In- dies.”
But then there’s another noted American official whose face appears on U. S. currency and whose heritage is also questionable.
According to J. A. Rogers, though this individual’s mother and her husband migrated from Ireland, her hus- band later died wherein she “intermarried with a Negro slave.”... “It was stressed that this individual was conceived
long after the death of his supposed Irish father, whose name he bore.”
The person we’re referring to is none other than President Andrew Jackson whose picture can be seen on the back of Harriet Tubman’s 20 dollar bill. So, our advice to the Treasury De- partment is simply this: Be careful who you label “The First” in a highly multi-cultural society.
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