*In honor of its 225th anniversary, the U.S Mint unveiled the first of several planned commemorative coins designed to celebrate America’s diversity…and racists have been beside themselves all day with the first release – Lady Liberty depicted as a black woman.
The new American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin shows Lady Liberty in profile wearing a headband of stars, her hair tied up in a bun with a few stray braids falling down from it.
The U.S. Mint explained, “Several obverse and reverse designs were reviewed by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) and Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) during public meetings held in March 2016. Both the CCAC and CFA have advocated for bold designs and diversity on our Nation’s coins.”
In the unveiling ceremony, U.S. Mint Chief of Staff Elisa Basnight said the coin represents the “evolution of Liberty.” Principal deputy director of the Mint, Rhett Jeppson, said in an interview with KSL: “If we see [ourselves] in that and it speaks to us, that’s really powerful and it makes us feel inclusive.”
Although Lady Liberty is a fictional representation of freedom and theoretically has no racial identity, racists have fanned out on social media to complain that the coin’s Lady Liberty is not white.
Lady liberty is fashioned after Roman goddess Libertas. She’s not African. What a joke. @usmint @USTreasury pic.twitter.com/UdBWc3i1F8
— America First (@JeSuisSylvia) January 12, 2017
Lady liberty is fashioned after Roman goddess Libertas. She’s not African. What a joke. @usmint @USTreasury pic.twitter.com/UdBWc3i1F8
— America First (@JeSuisSylvia) January 12, 2017
@usmint @USTreasury worst portrayal of Lady Liberty. An absolute disgrace
— Chris (@cmw311) January 12, 2017
Have no problem with that. (Assuming the black lady liberty is….a #Trump supporter)
— TheWest is awakening (@ZKondos) January 13, 2017
The American Liberty High Relief Gold Coin with Lady Liberty as a black woman will go on sale later this year. They’ll be available for purchase from the Mint either online or by phone.
Below, footage of the coin being produced.
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