even the blind are driving cars...almost

   

We have experienced the pitfalls of, Separate but Equal.  But what about, Different but Equal? 

The Great American Melting Pot pressures everyone to conform with the Norm, whatever "They" tell us the Norm is. 

So if you wear a turban, have a Black skin, speak with a strong accent, have same sex lovers, use Braille and a White Travel Cane, or eat with your fingers, society tries to push you into the, "Normal Mode". 

You are shamed, teased, belittled, ridiculed, and in general bullied.  If that fails you are condemned to live outside the "normal society". 

For long years the blind have tried very hard to conform to the norm, even to the point of pretending to drive a car.  But we continue to be seen by society as different.  And in being judged as different, we are forced into segregation.  Not by us, we are trying hard to break down the barriers, but by the, "normal" folks.

The harder we try to overcome our difference, the more it is seen by the public, and by us alike, as something undesirable .  A curse.  A deformity. 

But if we take a good look around us we will notice that there are more people who do not conform to the so called Norm, than do.  And we're all beating our heads against the wall trying to be normal. 

Blacks try hair straighteners and color lighteners.  Gays pretend they're straight.  Mexicans say that they're from Spain.  working class folks say that they're middle class and middle class folks claim to be upper middle class.  Even blind people are trying to drive cars to prove just how normal they really are. 

But it's not our playing field, no matter how many times we level it.  It's the playing field of the Normal People.  They'll change the rules quicker than Donald Duck can quack. 

If all of us "non-normal" groups formed a loose association and declared that we are "differently normal", and that we were no longer going to play on the minority normal folks playing field, and went about creating as many new playing fields as we could build, what would happen? 

Of course the, "Normal" minority would strike back, but that is why we would need a loose association.  We would need to mount our own propaganda campaign to offset their mass media attacks.  But we are in the majority.  We do have real power.  We can shut down commerce, if we choose.  We can elect our own people to office.  We can refuse to be a part of their "normal world". 

If we have the guts to do it. 

 

Curious Carl