Although progress toward a more diverse and inclusive nation feels lost with the new president-elect taking office in a couple of days, a new commemorative coin from the U.S. Mint Treasury features the depiction of Lady Liberty as an African American woman.

The announcement comes at a pivotal cultural moment for the United States, a week away from a transfer of power following an unexpectedly devastating election dominated by debates about immigration, race and political correctness.

“Part of our intent was to honor our tradition and heritage,” Rhett Jeppson, the principal deputy director of the Mint, said in a blog post. “But we also think it’s always worthwhile to have a conversation about liberty, and we certainly have started that conversation.”

Previously there was only one coin in the U.S., the Sacajawea coin, that portrayed a person of color. Last year, it was confirmed that abolitionist Harriet Tubman will become the new face of the $20 bill. Many criticized the decision to replace the face of Andrew Jackson with a black woman. The outrage over putting an American hero who fought for liberation of slaves on currency underscores the progress that must be made. 

The portrayal of an African-American woman as Lady Liberty is to proclaim that black is beautiful — a statement that should be obvious but is unfortunately still absent from much of Hollywood, fashion and other industries. This is why the active decision to portray an African-American woman as Lady Liberty is significant. Actively choosing an African-American woman to personify liberty, when black people were consistently and systematically deprived of liberty, speaks volumes.

It is impossible to behold the new coin without confronting our nation’s history of slavery, when most American currency prints bills with the faces of leaders that honored slavery. The U.S. Mint’s theme for its 225th year is “remembering our past and embracing our future,” and the new coin, which contravenes typical beauty standards without erasing America’s racist past, personifies that theme. 

This is the first of a series of coins that will feature designs that depict a symbolic liberty in a variety of forms, including “designs representing Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Indian-Americans among others, to reflect the cultural and ethnic diversity of the United States.” As President Barack Obama mentioned in his farewell address, the effects of slavery and Jim Crow didn’t suddenly vanish in the 1960s. Democracy is a constant, active effort and means that minority groups, and not just white men, do represent America and all that it stands for. 

Saifullah is a neuroscience senior from Richardson. She is an associate editor. Follow her on Twitter @coolstorysunao.