Famed television Judge Joe Brown, whose long-running court show made him the second-highest-paid arbitrator on TV after Judge Judy, has an issue with placing Harriet Tubman’s image on a $20 bill.
Brown, 72, shared his sentiments in a recent discussion on “The Valerie Denise Jones Show” about the newly released film “Harriet,” a biopic about the iconic abolitionist.
The film, he said, is part of a subversive attempt by “self-hating” feminists to undermine the accomplishments of historical Black men.
“This movie is to soften the public up to the idea of taking a Black woman who freed slaves by leading them to freedom and getting her or another one like her on a $20 bill,” he said. “They can’t get a White woman, so they want a Black woman. They don’t care, they just want a woman, and it downs masculinity.”
Brown said having Tubman serve as the currency’s imagery would be offensive to and downplay the achievements of Black male leaders such as Frederick Douglass, who he said would make for a better fit.
“I got a big problem if [Tubman’s] on a bill before they put a Black man’s face on one. I have a big problem with that,” he told Johnson.
Brown said women should focus more on becoming better mothers and taking the responsibility of raising better Black men.
“Historically, the status of an ethnic group is determined by its men, not its women,” he said. “Putting a Black woman on there before a Black man is insulting to the Black race because you’re saying the men ain’t worth a damn, you put a woman up there first.”
The Obama administration initiated plans for the Tubman $20 bill to enter circulation in 2020, but the Trump administration postponed the move until 2026, with the president has suggesting she be featured on the $2 bill instead.
