In its first week in office, the Biden administration made a series of measures designed to undo former U.S. President Donald Trump’s legacy both substantively and symbolically. Besides measures like canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and rejoining the Paris climate agreement, the administration’s Treasury Department announced that it would speed up the production of $20 bills featuring the 19th-century abolitionist Harriet Tubman, reinstating an Obama administration plan that Trump officials had tried to kill by slow-walking.
For the Biden administration, the decision makes perfect political sense. Placing Tubman on the currency—and overturning a Trump decision to block it—will not fix racial wealth disparities or end unjust policing practices, but it is a visible symbol of the administration’s policies and its commitment to the Black women who helped Joe Biden win.
