The American Women Quarters Program Sparks Gender/Racial Controversy

It started out as a noble cause - and quite frankly, a long overdue one. Women, thanks to the American Women Quarters Program, will finally get their images on currency, but it won't be without controversy. 

From 2022 to 2025, five new quarter designs will be issued depicting images of historical women featured on the coin - the backside that is, while George Washington's image will remain front face.

But that's not all...

Out of the five quarters issued, the lone black female, the late poet and activist, Maya Angelou, is depicted as having fairer skin in a profile view image (See left image next to arrow).

Now, I have never been one to believe in conspiracy theories, but placing female images on the back of coins while a male is on the front can be seen as a metaphor that women are still "behind" men or "second class" citizens in today's world. 

In addition, having the only black female represented with lighter skin tone in a side view image whose face is practically obscured, while her counterparts are not, reeks of racial overtones. 

Why can't women images be placed on the back and front of coins? Why was Angelou's face obscured and her skin tone lightened? 

A Google image search of the poet would have generated a litany of close-up shots that could have been used for the new coin. 

(This just makes me wonder if Harriet Tubman's image ever replaces Andrew Jackson's on the $20 bill, what will her photo look like? Will her skin tone be lightened, too?)

According to the website usmint.gov, the "American Women Quarters Program is a four-year program that celebrates the accomplishments and contributions made by women to the development and history of our country."

All women chosen are from different ethnic backgrounds and all are no longer alive.

In addition to Angelou, there is:

• Dr. Sally Ride – who was a White female educator and became the first woman in space.
• Wilma Mankiller – who was a Native American and the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation.
• Nina Otero-Warren – who was a Latina activist for the suffrage movement in New Mexico.
• Anna May Wong – who was an Asian American who became Hollywood's first Chinese American film star.

The race and ethnicity of each is CLEARLY identifiable in the coin images, except for Angelou.

So what do you think? Was Maya Angelou's skin tone intentionally lightened? Should women images appear on both sides of the coin? Please weigh in.