The government of President Joe Biden will advance efforts to replace Andrew Jackson, the country's seventh president, of the $ 20 bill, to replace the face of suffragette and
abolitionist Harriet Tubman
, as reported by the White House .
The project was announced in 2016 by the Barack Obama Administration, but the Donald Trump administration said in 2019 that the change would be delayed to 2028 due to technical problems, according to NBC News.
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"The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the new $ 20 bills," said White House press secretary Jen Psaki.
The change will be made to "reflect the history and diversity of our country," he added.
Tubman
would thus become the first black person
to appear on an American banknote.
The first lady, Martha Washington, and the Native American Pocahontas, were the only women to appear on banknotes, in 1891 and 1865, respectively.
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While he was a presidential candidate, Trump suggested that Tubman's face be included on the $ 2 bill, according to Reuters.
He also assured that the Obama project was only promoted by "political correctness."
Trump also confessed himself an admirer of Andrew Jackson, and he continually spoke out against altering historical images and monuments that symbolize racism and racial oppression in the United States.
"I am glad that the Biden Administration is reversing the passage of the Trump Administration," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday.
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Tubman was born in 1822 and raised as a slave on a Maryland plantation, from which she escaped 20 years later.
The abolitionist returned to the south to help hundreds of slaves escape, and worked as a spy during the Civil War.
Jackson, who is currently listed on the $ 20 bill, was a slave owner and has been criticized for his treatment of Native Americans.
With information from NBC News, Reuters.