Whoopi Goldberg isn’t mad that Maya Angelou is now appearing on quarters in the United States — but she does think the poet deserves way better.
To kick off Tuesday morning’s show, Goldberg raised the topic of the coins, which officially went into distribution on Monday. With that, Angelou became the first Black woman ever to appear on the coin. But Goldberg would argue that it should’ve been a currency of higher value, at the very least.
“I want to point out that, not too long ago, we were expecting to have Harriet Tubman gracing the $20 bill, remember that?” Whoopi said. “But now it looks like the price has been slashed to a quarter, because now we have Maya Angelou on a quarter. And having Maya anywhere is a magnificent thing. But come on, America! You don’t think this is gonna make folks feel a little bit uncomfortable? We were on a $20 bill and now you have all of these powerful women, and you put them all on quarters? Come on!”
Indeed, the coin featuring Maya Angelou is the first in the American Women Quarters Program, an entire series of coins set to feature prominent women in American history. More of the coins will start shipping later this year and through 2025, according to the U.S. Mint.
Future quarters will feature physicist and first woman astronaut Dr. Sally Ride; Wilma Mankiller, the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and an activist for Native American and women’s rights; Nina Otero-Warren, a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and the first female superintendent of Santa Fe public schools; and Anna May Wong, the first Chinese American film star in Hollywood.
That said, the $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman is still reportedly in the works, but has been postponed.
The rest of the panel of women on “The View” were uncharacteristically quiet on the matter, though Sara Haines agreed that having Angelou appear anywhere was a good thing.