I believe that women should be represented on our currency, so I suggested a women who would be an excellent choice. The added benefit of tweaking the noses of the right-wingers with my suggested image is not accidental, either.

One of the rules is that no living person can be depicted on US currency.

I'm not much interested in sarcastic humor about this issue, frankly.

You learn something new every day.

Personally, I think your suggestion is a sound choice.

because living royalty in England was always on the currency there at the time. The rules were set because of that. No Kings or Queens in the United States.

They were:

Alabama Governor Thomas E. Kilby (1921 Alabama Centennial commemorative half dollar, issued 2 years after the actual centennial)
President Calvin Coolidge (1926 US Sesquicentennial commemorative half dollar)
Arkansas Senator Joseph T. Robinson (1936 Arkansas Centennial commemorative half dollar, 2nd version)
Virginia Senator Carter Glass (1936 Lynchburg, Virginia commemorative half dollar)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1995 Special Olympics commemorative dollar)

Sarcasm is not always the best response to a serious thread, I think.

Harriet Beecher Stowe, however, is a worthy suggestion. Thanks for moving back on topic.

Though I agree Tubman is an excellent choice.

in general. That factor always plays a role in such selections.

Reagan be put on paper money long before any woman. I believe they want to replace Roosevelt on the dime with his "beloved" image.

And that the second must be as well shows just how much resentment there is toward something so basic.

first replies to a serious proposal bothers me, too.

Too bad. But there are also serious replies.

I started a new thread to give the subject another chance, and began with an actual suggestion of a person to honor to help get it off on a good start.

If so, I'd recommend you edit your post.

And did you not mean it as a put-down of current American society, saying that Americans are too stupid to agree with the President, and that a 'mongo' would be a more fitting choice to represent said stupid people?

No, I think I read you correctly. And I think those of us that try to make it socially unacceptable to use slurs, such as those used against people with Down's Syndrome, would agree that you have shown your true colors.

doesn't list the meaning you infer. The word "mongo" is generally used as an adjective meaning "very large." The meaning provide isn't really in common use at all, as far as I know.

way in the United States. It's really not.

Speaking 4 languages, and working on the fifth, a bit of bleed-off is to be expected.

However, I believe I reacted appropriately, by asking instead of alerting. It is not over-sensitivity to be aware of words that are slurs, even if it is in comparable languages.

heard or seen the word used that way. So, no, it's not in common use, as you suggested.

When I read "Mongo" my first thought was "Ming the Merciless."

I looked it up. It is exactly as Kit describes. It means idiot, as derived from the term mongoloid. She knows our language better than we do.

of a great Tumbador.

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mongo-santamaria-mn0000591104

I knew the other existed, but don't think I've ever heard or seen it used.

in this context.

At any rate, a jury found it to be offensive and over the top, and I for one agree with that decision.

What does your creative writing skills say about my suggestion of Harriet Beecher Stowe ? She's white so am I just being racist now too ? -or- are you so target fixated on me that you missed it ?

I said it to put mock the ridiculousness of the American gluttony and desire for material wealth and fame. If I've insulted you by mocking the American dream family "Kardashian", then I just feel sorry for you.

just when I thought you couldn't miss the point any more you think it's about Obama and/or people with down syndrome ? Like I said, you are too sensitive, and WAY to anxious.

President Obama wants to put women on dollar bills - the first real woman to be put on a dollar bill in the US - and your reaction was to suggest a fantasy female member of the Kardashian family? Way to start a serious discussion.

That's the problem.

rather than the adjective. I don't think I reacted inappropriately either - asking whether it was an ableist slur and recommending an edit if it was. Of course, the response was an accusation of over-sensitivity, which is very par for the course.

Anything that does not affirm absolute privilege is "over-sensitive."

with sarcastic "disclaimers" to ridicule those who believe that words and language actually matter, and has an effect on society. That slurs matter.

I once read a comparison of the use of slurs with Chinese water torture - each slur is but a small drop on the forehead, innocuous in itself, something so many of us experience should we happen to be outside when it starts to rain. But while the rest of us can go inside when it rains, minority groups are forced to experience drop after drop after drop after drop on their forehead, being unable to do anything about it except speak out against the use of slurs. So you can be darned sure I will speak out when I see slurs, because as an able-bodied white woman, I have privileges disabled people, and people of color do not have. I would rather use my privileges to make this world a better one for everyone in it, as a true progressive, rather than sneer, make fun, and ridicule.

I look forward to the time when people using these slurs will be made to feel at least as uncomfortable as the people confronting them on it.

Best wishes.

and those who experienced it, escaped bondage, and continued to fight for the freedom of others did more for that cause. They also know what it was like to live under bondage, hence Harriet Tubman or Sojourner Truth.

I know of many men who are allies against sexism and misogyny. I would not, however, elevate them above those who experience it to single out for honor.

I understand determination to uphold privilege very well. Should I forget, there are always many intent on reminding me.

The only time I've ever heard it used was the large brute of a man in the movie 'Blazing Saddles'. I've never heard anyone ever use it to refer to a person with Down's Syndrome.

(Edit, oh, Kardassian? Now that I see the titles of other comments, that might be the 'K' in question.)

Is color something distasteful to you? 2014 and we are somehow aloof to color. Despicable!

Would be funny as hell and just plain feel right to replace that racist genocidal asshole Andrew Jackson with a black woman.

You make an excellent point, and Harriet Tubman would be an excellent replacement for Jackson. No question about it. Plus, right wing heads would explode colorfully, I'm sure.

Now that would really be poetic justice.

What with his likeness on a piece of currency issued by a central bank.
He would have challenged someone to a duel over that.

They could just move that image onto the $20. I thought it was lovely and very apt.

First, I think 20s are used far more often, and second, I'll link to someone who tells it better than I can - http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/03/andrew_jackson_should_be_kicked_off_the_20_bill_he_ordered_a_genocide.html

(Edit, my link wasn't displaying, so I took it out of site format.)

The man was and is unworthy of being on our currency. Having him there is a stain on the country.

Someone else also suggested the $20 bill. Let's push for it.

There are other women who could be first, of course, but I think Harriet Tubman represents the very best of American history, and deserved that kind of recognition.

Jackson needs to go.

Still, there are many possibilities, and I'm glad the subject has been started. It's about time.

There are many good choices, I think.

One thing in Harriet Tubman's favor is that she is taught about in every grammar school. Kids know about her. That's a big plus, I think. Besides, I like her face in the image I posted.

She deserves to be honored, and US dollar bills need some diversity on them.

If I remember correctly from my last trip there, they have a woman on every single banknote denomination.

the response among a certain group of men was to threaten her with rape, murder, doxxing, and all sorts of nastiness.

That they have Queen Elizabeth II on each note will change in due time, but the reverse has a whole lot of men, and very few women. Since 1970, out of the 12 portraits that have been on the reverse side of pound notes, only 2 have been women, Florence Nightingale on the £10-note from 1975-1994, and Elisabeth Fry on the £5-note from 2002, due to be replaced by Winston Churchill in 2016.

If President Obama goes ahead with his suggestion to replace some of the white old men on the dollar bills with women, and with women of color, even, I am sure the US will have its share of men go berserk. Luckily, the President has the Secret Service to help with the backlash.

has a law against living persons appearing on currency and coins. A good anti-royalist rule.

"We can never spend royals."

(Say...that'd be a good song...)

And wasn't Susan B. Anthony on an earlier version?

Talk about women being freaking invisible - women are already on US currency!

Women are still freaking invisible, because the only currency that they've been featured on is virtually invisible!

However, with dollar value falling, it may be time to create a $250 bill.

I love dollar coins, and use them as often as possible. I refill every time I hit a bank in person.

I work with the public and handle all kinds of currency all the time. There are a lot of those dollars floating around.

though. Personally, I liked the Eisenhower dollar. The larger coin size made it easy to differentiate from the quarter, unlike the smaller coins.

It is past time, though, I think, for a woman to appear on paper currency.

I disliked the Susan B. Anthony dollar coin -- no offense to her, but it was just too similar to the quarter.

Inflation is very low right now, but, with time, the dollar will inexorably be worth what a quarter was worth when the Anthony dollar came out (1979). At some point it will probably make sense to phase out the $1 bill and use only the Sacagawea coin for that denomination.

It could be argued that Angelou was political, but she wasn't a political figure.

The only exception I can think of to the "political figure on US currency" rule, though, is Sacagawea. Though Lewis and Clark's expedition could be seen as political, and therefore, her service on that journey might be interpreted as political, as well.

I said her service to the US on the Lewis & Clark expedition might be interpreted as political. I did not say she was a politcal figure, but rather the exception to the political figure rule. Reading comprehension is a beautiful thing.

We tend to go with tradition and long-dead people on currency. I doubt that will change.

Not knocking your choice, but I'd be shocked if more than 15% of the population knows who she is.

They've been teaching about Tubman for a long, long time now. I think you'd be surprised.

I'd be surprised if you get more than 3. Ask 10 HS kids. I'd be surprised if more than 1 know who she is. I'm not gonna lie. I didn't.

Eleanor Roosevelt would also be a good candidate.

I'd bet more people know about Harriet Tubman than they do Hamilton.

He founded the U.S. financial system and wrote a majority of the Feralist Papers, not to mentioned being killed in a dual with a VP Aaron Burr.

A good number of people can't even name the current VP, let alone know who Hamilton was -- as important as he was.

School children learn about Harriet Tubman.

You're the first person I've ever heard claim they never heard of her.

before she was pictured on the dollar coin?

Harriet Tubman has always been taught in schools.

but then I am in Central New York, Syracuse/Auburn area.

You win the Internets.

and reveals a great deal about how people see women.

She's a handsome woman, but I don't want her on our currency.

Emily Dickinson, maybe.

sad for you" if you don't care for, say, John Donne? Or Chaucer in the original? Or Henry James? Or Lord Byron? Or....whomever?

I have a degree in the subject; I've taught the subject; I am more than knowledgeable enough to have legit opinions on the subject of poetry, TYVM.

such anger over my suggesting a wonderful, cherished Woman like Maya...wonder what that is about

Beginning of the environmental movement

More evidence that it's past time.

Clara Barton, who worked as a patent clerk and probably the first woman to hold a federal government job, served as a Civil War nurse who was put in charge of all hospitals for the Army of the James, set up a hospital for those who had been held at the infamous Andersonville Prison, ran the Office of Missing Soldiers after the war, and, oh yeah, started the American Red Cross after working with the International Red Cross while helping to set up hospitals during the Franco-Prussian War.

She's been on a postage stamp in 1948, so there's already a nice etched version of her face!

Although the charity she founded is mired in corruption, Her work does stand out.

Probably not politically prominent enough for a currency choice, though.

GMTA just means Great Minds Think Alike. It happens on DU more often than you'd think.

Swipe of a card and you're through the line pretty fast. What would people want with another coin?

I was in Guatemala for two months and their "dollar" coins came in handy. But that's the thing there, you can't ever really get away with not handling cash or coins. Almost impossible actually, you had to be in a very fancy resturant to get away with that. Here? Even a free-standing jewelry/purse stall has a swipe plug-in for their iPhones.

Although the more frequent issue is that nearly everyone else has gone to smart cards, and they are positively puzzled by cards which don't have them, even those most POS terminals have a swipe slot on the side.

What's really weird these days is leaving the country with no more than a couple of dollars in cash and an ATM card in your pocket.

You can't eat fame, nor feed it to your children, nor pay the IRS or the student loans...

...

Helen Keller on the reverse of the Alabama quarter: 2003
Sacagawea on the dollar coin: 1999-Present
Susan B. Anthony on the dollar coin: 1979-1981

Emily Dickinson is another great American woman.

Jane Addams has been one of my heroes since I was a child.

Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935) was a pioneer settlement social worker, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in women's suffrage and world peace. In an era when presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson identified themselves as reformers and social activists, Addams was one of the most prominent[1] reformers of the Progressive Era. She helped turn the US to issues of concern to mothers, such as the needs of children, public health, and world peace. She said that if women were to be responsible for cleaning up their communities and making them better places to live, they needed the vote to be effective in doing so. Addams became a role model for middle-class women who volunteered to uplift their communities. She is increasingly being recognized as a member of the American pragmatist school of philosophy.[2] In 1931 she became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and is recognized as the founder of the social work profession in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Addams

She nominated Theodore Roosevelt to be the candidate of the Progressive Party. One amazing woman.

There are many women I'd like to see on our currency. Maybe we should use them all, and issue currency with different faces on it for different printings. I don't know.

Late 1800's feminist badass.

"When America passed the fugitive slave law compelling men to catch their fellows more brutally than runaway dogs, Canada, aristocratic, unrepublican Canada, still stretched her arms to those who might reach her. But there is no refuge upon earth for the enslaved sex. Right where we are, there we must dig our trenches, and win or die!"

"Who thinks a dog is impure or obscene because its body is not covered with suffocating and annoying clothes? What would you think of the meanness of a man who would put a skirt upon his, horse and compel it to walk or run with such a thing impeding its limbs? Why, the "Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" would arrest him, take the beast from him, and he would be sent to a lunatic asylum for treatment on the score of an impure mind. And yet, gentlemen, you expect your wives, the creatures you say you respect and love, to wear the longest skirts and the highest necked clothing, in order to conceal the obscene human body. There is no society for the prevention of cruelty to women."

anyone who's going on US currency is going to have to be a well-recognized name, I'm afraid.

already on coins. This country has an immense and diverse history of people, would be good to see more of the uncommon, yet impactful historical figures.

But you are right, Voltairine wouldn't really be a good choice for say, the 20$ bill.