A Harriet Tubman Debit Card Caused A Stir When It Appeared She Was Giving The ‘Wakanda Forever’ Salute

Confused comic book fans flooded social media this week, wondering why an abolitionist was doing a hand gesture from the movie Black Panther. The controversy started on Thursday when OneUnited Bank announced it was putting Harriet Tubman on a bank card, revealing a design that got people talking almost immediately.

The image, on a Visa bank card, shows Tubman looking forward, wearing a red and white head-wrap. But what got most people confused was the hand gesture the depiction used, with crossed arms in front of her in a motion that many Marvel movie fans spotted right away.

— OneUnited Bank (@oneunited) February 13, 2020

The image is part a special campaign OneUnited started to celebrate Black History Month, showing “unapologetically black images” on its cards. But it made a lot of people confused. Many thought it was the “Wakanda Forever” salute from Black Panther, and were utterly confused as to why a woman who died in 1913 would be using it on a debit card.

— marv (@ofstarvinmarrv) February 13, 2020

FAM NOT THE WAKANDA SALUTE TOO pic.twitter.com/jeQOM1YfjO