Lady Liberty Portrayed as Woman of Color for 1st Time on US Currency

[jmyrlefuller]

http://abcnewsradioonline.com/national-news/lady-liberty-portrayed-as-woman-of-color-for-1st-time-on-us.html

 The United States Mint and Treasury have unveiled a new gold coin that portrays Lady Liberty as a woman of color for the first time in American history.

In a press conference Thursday held in the Department of Treasury's "historic" Cash Room, the two departments introduced the 2017 American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin, which celebrates 225 years of coins being minted in the U.S.

In "a departure from previous classic designs," the new coin portrays Lady Liberty as a black woman wearing a crown of stars.  It is the first in a series of 24-karat gold coins that will feature designs representing Lady Liberty as Asian-American, Hispanic-American and Indian-American.

(excerpt)

[jmyrlefuller]

With apologies to Schulz....

[ABX]

I think she looks pretty cool. Don't have a problem with it

Ditto

[mystery-ak]

[TomSea]

Just to me, it even looks a bit like Michelle in the face. Maybe in an idealized way.

It's okay with me.

[HoustonSam]

Fine with me.  Lady Liberty is a fictional ideal, not an actual historic person.  Seems like a good idea to cast the ideal in ways that include people.

[Wingnut]

It's not they are going into circulation.  They are going to be like buying collector Elvis plates from Bradford Exchange.
These coins are sure to increase in value.  Buy the limited edition Black Liberty Now! Make your grandchildren rich. These dies will be destroyed after the first 25 million sets are cast. All coins are cast with high relief and have exquisite details .  Strict limit of 5 coins to the 1st 30 million customers. Money back Gaurantee if not completely satisfied.

[Cripplecreek]

I don't have any issues with it.

For many years the most recognized symbol of America was "Columbia" who in the early years was commonly represented by an American indian woman.

The Sailors and Soldiers monument in Detroit is topped off with a 3,800-pound personification of a victorious Michigan as an Indian queen in a winged helmet, brandishing a sword in her right hand and a shield in her left. She depicts Michigan as being strong, proud and brave. The personification of Michigan is similar, though more aggressive, than the one on the Russell A. Alger Memorial Fountain in Grand Circus Park. The statue also has a black woman crowning soldiers.

http://historicdetroit.org/building/soldiers-and-sailors-monument/



Always loved the classical statuary and Detroit is loaded with them.

[dfwgator]

I think she looks pretty cool. Don't have a problem with it

Yep. Much bigger fish to fry.

[Fishrrman]

Well I -do- have a problem with it.

Fishrrman's credo:
Reality is what it is. It is not what we believe it to be.

It's an attempt to rewrite history into something that it was not.

I prefer history "as it was" -- the bad along with the good.

So long as it reflects reality.

This is Lady Liberty:

[ABX]

I'm always happy to see people here are adults.

I can't want to see what a certain other site says. They may need some safety pins. Wait until they find out Bartholdi's earliest sketches of Liberty were based on Egyptian statues.

[skeeter]

Well I -do- have a problem with it.

Fishrrman's credo:
Reality is what it is. It is not what we believe it to be.

It's an attempt to rewrite history into something that it was not.

I prefer history "as it was" -- the bad along with the good.

So long as it reflects reality.

Thats a very good point.

[ABX]

Well I -do- have a problem with it.

Fishrrman's credo:
Reality is what it is. It is not what we believe it to be.

It's an attempt to rewrite history into something that it was not.

I prefer history "as it was" -- the bad along with the good.

So long as it reflects reality.

This is Lady Liberty:

So based on that, it would be accurate history 'as it was' to make Liberty Egyptian as Bartholdi's earliest drawings were based on ancient Egyptian statues.



So a North African/Middle Eastern Liberty would be technically historical.

[Fishrrman]

" ...it would be accurate history 'as it was' to make Liberty Egyptian as Bartholdi's earliest drawings were based on ancient Egyptian statues."

That ain't how the finished product turned out.
As your post above illustrates.

[TomSea]

So based on that, it would be accurate history 'as it was' to make Liberty Egyptian as Bartholdi's earliest drawings were based on ancient Egyptian statues.



So a North African/Middle Eastern Liberty would be technically historical.

@abraxas ;

Totally agree, "all men are created equal."

That ain't how the finished product turned out.
As your post above illustrates.

So, the statue of liberty is bluish, I don't know how it first appeared when it came over. Perhaps that is the role-model to be pursued.

[TomSea]

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Address

[Frank Cannon]

What a load of shit. If you want to do this fine, but Lady Liberty is a defined caricature. This is like making Snoopy look like Garfield.

Enough with the revisionist history bullshit.

[TomSea]

What BS? That we care what an artist's rendition was? Really? That's funny.

Maybe I'll look up some Pablo Picassos or Van Goghs, that's the ticket.

[bigheadfred]

What a load of shit. If you want to do this fine, but Lady Liberty is a defined caricature. This is like making Snoopy look like Garfield.

Enough with the revisionist history bullshit.

Frank is correct people. All men are created equal, but they aren't born that way. Elevating people to a status they haven't earned is BS. It needs to stop.

[verga]

I personally don't care one way or the other. I do care about the reason for doing it and the reasoning behind it.
Is it to show the diversity of america or is it meant as an act of appeasement over both real and imagined slights over the years?
Did the bureaucracy intend it to be thought provoking or was it intended to garner a negative reaction among certain groups to show how bigoted and small minded they can be? 

[bigheadfred]

And on the other side of the coin:

Did the bureaucracy intend it to be thought provoking or was it intended to garner a positive reaction among certain groups to show how bigoted and small minded they can be? 

PS: A bigamist is fog over Italy.

[Cripplecreek]

So based on that, it would be accurate history 'as it was' to make Liberty Egyptian as Bartholdi's earliest drawings were based on ancient Egyptian statues.

So a North African/Middle Eastern Liberty would be technically historical.

People don't realize that much of what they think they know of history was itself revised from an earlier version. For instance most people think the American flag has always been 13 stripes with white stars on a field of blue in the upper left corner but that's not true. The flag as we know it didn't become standardized till the 1930s (aside from added stars). Before that red white ad blue were considered the recognized colors but the pattern didn't always follow the the standard we know today (although it generally did).

Interestingly enough, within a few years of standardizing the flag we killed the Bellamy flag salute which had become associated with Hitler and the nazis.  Francis Bellamy was himself a source of revision to what we know now (Bellamy was a "Christian socialist"). He changed our pledge of allegiance from the one originally written by Colonel George Balch. The Balch version included the line We give our heads and hearts to God and our country; one country, one language, one flag! and Bellamy replaced it with    I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

There were other minor revisions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pledge_of_Allegiance

[Frank Cannon]

People don't realize that much of what they think they know of history was itself revised from an earlier version.

But in this particular instance it is not revisionist. All one has to do is head out to Liberty Island and look up. I don't care if  Bartholdi was thinking of making the statue look like a martian. He ended up making it look the way it looks now and it is what it is. Been that way since 1876.

[thackney]

But in this particular instance it is not revisionist. All one has to do is head out to Liberty Island and look up. I don't care if  Bartholdi was thinking of making the statue look like a martian. He ended up making it look the way it looks now and it is what it is. Been that way since 1876.

Miss Liberty has been featured on United States coins ever since the 1700s. 

She has worn headdresses, caps, and crowns.
She has worn flowing gowns, tight blouses, and even no upper body clothing at all.
She has been standing, walking, and sitting.
She has held shields.
Her hair has been let down and pulled up in braids.
She has even donned Native American headwear.

https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/liberty_coin/

Those early ones were not modeled on Charlotte Beysser Bartholdi, mother of French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, model for the face of the Statue of Liberty.

https://www.granger.com/results.asp?image=0162988

[mountaineer]

So, the statue of liberty is bluish, I don't know how it first appeared when it came over. Perhaps that is the role-model to be pursued.