The people you see on British banknotes today all made history and shaped society in one way or another. They have at least one thing in common: they're all white. Those faces belong to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, author Jane Austen, economist Adam Smith, and industrial revolution engineers Matthew Boulton and James Watt. But now there's an opportunity to add some diversity. In November, the Bank of England announced that the next £50 note will feature a prominent British scientist and it asked the public to submit names. A group of campaigners (using the hashtag #BanknotesOfColour) — along with their 200 prominent co-signers — is urging the bank to select a person of colour. Most recently, the Home Secretary Sajid Javid backed the campaign, as did Crazy Rich Asians star Gemma Chan and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar, to name a few. Co-creator of the campaign Zehra Zaidi — a lawyer and social activist — told Mashableit's important to have diversity on banknotes, because banknotes say a lot about the country they are issued for and used in. "Currency represents how a country sees itself, its history and culture," Zaidi told Mashable. "Who is chosen as the face of a banknote is more than symbolic, the face chosen can act as a brand ambassador across the world." Her reason for starting the campaign is simple: representation matters. And something as visible and commonplace as a banknote represents a good opportunity to educate the public. According to Zaidi and her co-campaigners, the absence of representation on banknotes sends the wrong message about the role of black and ethnic minority people through British history. "There has never been any ethnic minority person ever on a British banknote," Zaidi said, despite the fact that ethnic minority communities make up 14 percent of the British population. "That gives the impression that no ethnic minority person has done anything of significance to appear," she continued. Zaidi and her co-campaigners have a list of people of colour who've done significant things throughout history. Among the names suggested: Mary Seacole (the Jamaican British nurse who supported British troops during the Crimean war) Noor Inayat Khan (the first female radio operator to be sent into Nazi-occupied France during World War II) abolitionist Olaudah Equiano and suffragette Sophie Duleep Singh. Zaidi also expressed concern that the Bank of England has inadvertently selected a category for the £50 note that will make it difficult for a person of colour to get included. In the field of science, ethnic minority people have historically been overlooked and may not be as well known to the public as famous white scientists such as code breaker Alan Turing or physicist Stephen Hawking. According to the Royal Society, black British scientists were largely not recognised throughout the 18th and 19th century despite their contributions. But the campaigners still think that the bank should broaden its outreach and choose diversity. "This country was built by millions of people, many were from thousands of miles away," Zaidi says. "Celebrating them is celebrating ourselves, whatever our background.By simply printing a banknote, [the Bank] could address something far more important; structural inequality." Bank of England governor Mark Carney is set to make the final choice about who will feature on the new note in 2019. TopicsActivismDiversityRacial Justice"Currency represents how a country sees itself, its history and culture."
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"There has never been any ethnic minority person ever on a British banknote."
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