Twitter Cries Racism Over Delay of Harriet Tubman $20 Bill

The Trump administration has canceled the planned 2020 release of the new $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman, and many people, including LGBTQ advocates and allies, are not happy about it.

Tubman, an African-American woman, escaped slavery and helped others to freedom. She became a scout for the Union Army during the Civil War and later was an activist for women's suffrage. Her picture would replace that of Andrew Jackson, a slaveholder who advocated the genocide of Native Americans -- and is one of Donald Trump's favorite presidents.

President Barack Obama's administration had planned to put Tubman, the people's choice, on the $20 bill, and the new bill was set to go into circulation next year. But Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday that the bill's release would be delayed until at least 2026 and possibly 2028 -- either way, after Trump leaves office.

During a congressional hearing Wednesday, Mnuchin said he was now concentrating on efforts to prevent counterfeiting, particularly of $10 and $50 bills, The New York Times reports. "It is my responsibility now to focus on what is the issue of counterfeiting and the security features," he said. "The ultimate decision on the redesign will most likely be another secretary down the road."

Treasury Department officials declined to say if Mnuchin himself supported the delay or if the order came from Trump. Trump in the past has called the move to put Tubman on the bill "pure political correctness."

A lot of folks on Twitter, including some LGBTQ leaders, icons, and allies, are seeing the delay as pure racism -- and sexism too.

Also, Ernestine Wyatt, a distant niece of Tubman's, appeared on CNN to say the Treasury Department's decision smacks of racism.