A descendent of Andrew Jackson says he’s “sad” Harriet Tubman is replacing the former president on the front of the $20 bill.
“Well, I was disappointed,” Andrew Jackson VI said of the decision in a Daily Beast interview published Friday. “I was sad that they would do that. I think he deserves to be on the $20 bill. You know, he was put on there for a reason.
{mosads}“I can’t think of any of his accomplishments that have changed since then that would [warrant] moving him to the back. … Andrew Jackson is deserving, if not more so, than anybody to be there.”
The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced that Tubman would be the new face of the $20 bill, bumping Jackson to the back.
Tubman helped slaves escape bondage before the end of the Civil War. She also spied for the Union army during the conflict. She would be the first African-American woman to appear on U.S. currency.
“It’s a story that both reflects American values [and] American democracy,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a statement. “So much of what we believe has changed for the better in our country is represented by her story.”
Andrew Jackson VI said that he takes no issue with Tubman’s accomplishments, just the displacement of his ancestor.
“I’m not in any way criticizing Ms. Tubman,” the president’s great-great-great-grandson said. “What she accomplished was great. My problem is with them replacing Andrew Jackson with anyone.”
Jackson’s critics cite his forced removal of thousands of Native Americans from their lands.
Andrew Jackson VI said that his ancestor is merely a product of the times in which he lived.
“Well, I mean, I can’t sugarcoat the Trail of Tears. … That’s a part of history,” he said.
“I would say though that he was not the only president or person back then involved in removing Indians from their land and giving it to European settlers,” he continued.
“Obviously today, I don’t think that would be a good thing to happen. But I think it’s dangerous, when you look at history, to impose the standards that we have today on people then. They had different viewpoints than we have today.”