The ‘Identity Politics’ Behind the Faces on US Bills

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 29 April 2016
by Li Haidong (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Nathan Hsu. Edited by Paul Lynch.
A debate surrounding plans for a newly-designed set of U.S. paper currency has set the whole of the United States abuzz. The year 2020 will mark the centennial of women's suffrage in that country. Several days ago, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced that 2020 would also see a new set of banknotes issued, including a new $20 bill featuring famed American abolitionist Harriet Tubman's portrait on the front side, with former President Andrew Jackson's image being shuffled to the rear. The statement stirred the metaphorical hornet's nest of "identity politics" within American society and prompted various presidential candidates to speak out on the issue. Hillary Clinton expressed her support, while Donald Trump claimed that the change was born of "pure political correctness," going further to suggest that President Jackson's likeness remain untouched.

The fact is, however, that the Obama administration has its own reasons for seeking a change of pecuniary pace. First, it would symbolize how American societal values have been fundamentally transformed by a century of unflagging efforts on the part of the identity politics movement. At the onset of the 20th century, marginalized groups such as women, African- Americans, and lower-class citizens began to frame their position from a perspective of gaining "recognition," and strove to rectify the societal injustices suffered as a consequence of their "vulnerable" status. By the 1960s, identity politics had swelled into the women's rights, civil rights and workers' rights movements, and had profound effects across the whole of the nation. Now, American society, as it exists in this post-civil rights and post-women's rights era, has seen many become increasingly sensitive toward discrimination based on gender, class, age or sexual orientation. Their focus on the affairs of the marginalized and their questioning of mainstream values has been a spark that has ignited the nation. It is reported that in 2014, one girl still in elementary school wrote to President Obama from Massachusetts, noting that all of the figures featured on U.S. bills were male. This stands as evidence of the impact that identity politics has had upon subsequent generations.

Next, Obama himself is a beneficiary and supporter of the identity politics movement. The redesigned U.S. currency is both a reflection of the current administration's social values and a display of its determination in facilitating and propagating the movement's development. In terms of its domestic social agenda, the Obama administration has consistently worked toward elevating the social standing of marginalized groups, including women, the LGBT community, African-Americans and Latinos, as well as encouraging more diversified societal recognition free from ties to gender, race or sexual orientation. During his time in office, Obama has appointed the first Latina Supreme Court justice, first black attorney general, and the first openly transgender White House staff member.

Despite the intractable nature of many problems within American society, Obama has remained a president of some conviction, and rethinking the portraits that appear on U.S. bills is a demonstration of that drive. The contrasts between Jackson and Tubman could not be clearer; the former was a white male slaveowner, called an "Indian killer," and a former president, while the latter was black, female and a slave for many years before later devoting her life to the abolitionist and women's rights movements, aiding the poor and downtrodden. At present, the various denominations of banknotes all feature white male politicians on their faces. Replacing the current figure on any one of the bills with the image of a black female former slave and champion of minority rights could easily be called an ambitious reboot of American values and views toward its history. Of course, apart from the $20 bill, the new $10 and $5 notes will also commemorate the women's rights movement via various details. The new series of bills reflects the progress that has been made through the sacrifices of every ethnicity and group within the identity politics movement, and is a clear indication of the great strides forward being taken in U.S. cultural and political diversity. And yet, as with Trump's admonishments regarding "political correctness," there are also a significant number of Americans who worry that things have advanced too far.

At the end of the day, the significance of the symbolism within the change to U.S. currency is clear, but the realities facing the country are not so easily reversed. Women still earn lower pay, with black and other minority females earning particularly low incomes, and minority groups as a whole still fight against social injustice, at times quite vehemently. But the coming monetary makeover has galvanized the public, reminding them that conflicting views and ethnic strife still persist within American society, and that a plethora of issues within the identity politics movement have yet to be resolved at a structural level.

The author is a professor at China Foreign Affairs University's Institute of International Relations.


  有关美元新版纸币设计方案的争论正在“搅动”美国。 2020年是美国女性获得选举权的百年纪念。美国财长雅各布·卢日前宣布美元纸币将于2020年改版,其中20美元纸币正面将印上美国著名废奴主义者哈丽 特·塔布曼的头像,前总统安德鲁·杰克逊的头像将被挪到背面。该表态触动了美国社会身份政治的敏感神经,总统竞选人也就此发声,希拉里表示支持,特朗普则 称美元换像“纯粹出于政治正确”,建议保留总统头像。
  实际上,奥巴马政府推动美元换头像之举事出有因。首先,它是美国社会价值观在持续百年的身 份政治活动冲击下发生巨变的写照。20世纪初,少数觉悟的妇女、黑人、下层人士开始以“身份认同”视角看待自身境遇,力图改变因“弱势”身份而遭遇的社会 不公。到上世纪60年代,身份政治活动成为潮流,女权运动、民权运动、工人运动风起云涌,影响深远。当前美国社会已处在“后民权时代”“后女权时代”,众 多群体对种族、性别、阶级甚至年龄、性向等方面的歧视更为敏感,对边缘事物的关注和对主流观念的质疑蔚然成风。据报道,麻省一位小学女生2014年曾专门 致信奥巴马,表达对纸币上都是男性头像的质疑,这足见身份政治对美国下一代的影响。
  其次,奥巴马本身就是身份政治活动的受益者与支持者,美元换头像既反映了当下美国政府的社 会价值取向,又表明其力推这一活动纵深发展的决心。在国内社会议程上,奥巴马政府一直致力于提升妇女、同性恋者、跨性别者、非裔美国人和拉美裔美国人等不 同身份边缘群体的社会地位,促进性别、种族、性向身份的多样化社会认同。在任期间,奥巴马任命了最高法院第一位拉美裔大法官、第一位黑人总检察长、第一位 公开表明自己跨性别身份的白宫职员等等。
  尽管对诸多美国社会问题束手无策,但奥巴马仍是一位有理念的总统,美元纸币换像就凸显了他的理念归属。杰克逊与塔布曼身份对比异常鲜明:前者是白人、男性、奴隶主、“印第安人杀 手”,贵为总统;后者是黑人、女性,数年为奴,后投身废奴运动和女性参政运动,为贫寒低贱者争权利。当前不同币值美元上的头像全是男性、白人、政治家。以 一位黑人、前女奴、少数族群权利奋斗者的头像“挤走”现在纸币头像中任何一位,都将堪称对美国自身价值观和历史观的重大再定位。当然除了20美元,新版 10美元和5美元纸币上也将用不同细节纪念女权运动。这一系列美元换像折射出美国各族群在身份政治的大妥协中渐进前行的现实,表明文化与政治多元化在当今 美国确实占据了上风。但正如特朗普警惕“政治正确”的告诫,也有不少人担心矫枉过正。
  总的来看,美元换像象征意义明显,但它无法改变当前美国的如下事实:女性收入偏 低,黑人和其他有色人种妇女收入尤低;少数族群对于社会不公的抗争依然存在,有时还相当激烈。该事件搅动美国社会,揭示出美国社会观念与族裔冲突依然存 在,表明诸多身份政治问题还有待深层次解决。
(作者是外交学院国际关系研究所教授)
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

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