TODAY’S NORMAL WAS YESTERDAY’S CRAZY

Imagine with me that the year is 1979. I walk up to you, brimming with excitement, and announce that I have in my possession an electronic device that fits in the palm of your hand, with no cord or long antenna attached, that you can use to communicate with another person on the other side of the world. “I call it [pause for effect]…a cell phone!” You would probably think I need to be locked in a cell somewhere because clearly I am crazy.

Or let’s say it’s 1955, and racial tensions between Black and white people in America are sky-high. In some parts of the country, they’re not even legally permitted to drink from the same water fountain. Imagine a young Black man walking up to a crowd of white people and declaring that his children and theirs will one day go into business together, attend the same church, and “maybe even [pause for effect]…marry each other!” That crowd wouldn’t just think he was crazy but would probably go crazy on him, yelling racial slurs and possibly attempting to end his life.