Harriet Tubman will soon be gracing our twenty dollar bill. Most of us know only one image of her. It’s an iconic image taken later in her life in which her hair’s covered in a dark cloth and she has a stern expression. But there are other images of Harriet Tubman as well, including a wood cut of her carrying a musket.
Law professor Nicholas Johnson says the image of Harriet Tubman carrying a rifle doesn’t fit with how most Americans view abolitionists and civil rights leaders. After all, weren’t they supposed to be peaceful? But as Johnson tells Steve Paulson, there’s a rich tradition of Black Americans owning guns for self-defense.
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