Justice

"The Daily Show" Just Nailed the Real Scandal Over the $10 Bill

June 25th 2015

On Wednesday night's "The Daily Show," correspondent Jessica Williams and host Jon Stewart debuted a new segment: "Meet the Jess." (Clever.) During the segment the two discussed the U.S. Treasury's decision to bump Alexander Hamilton from the 10 dollar bill in favor of a yet to be determined woman. Williams is not impressed, to say the least.

"If by giant leap you mean awkward trip forward on jagged sidewalk that you pretend you did on purpose," Williams responds to Stewart's inquiry if this was a huge leap forward for womankind. Williams then deflated the hype over a woman on the $10 by bringing up some humorous points: it was time to update the $10 anyway, it's a little too late, paper currency is nearly obsolete, and the woman will still have to share the $10 with Hamilton like a "chaperone," Williams jokes.

She saved the most important point for last: equal pay.

"Honestly Jon, at the end of the day I don't give a damn who is on the bill," Williams stated. "What I do care about is getting an equal share of the bill. I would rather have ten full Hamilton dollars than 8 dollars and 45 cents of lady bucks. Let's spend our time focusing on that."

The wage gap still persists, as we have explained before for ATTN:

"White women earn on average 78 cents to every man's dollar, and that number is even lower for women of color. 'Hispanic and Latina women [were] paid only 54 percent of what white men were paid in 2013,' the American Association of University Women reports. American Indian and Alaskan native women earned 59 percent of what a white man did in 2013. Black women earned 64 percent, and Asian American women were paid 90 percent of what a white man was paid."

And according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, it may take another 43 years for women to finally receive equal pay. Learn more about the wage gap below:


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