It has been generations since those who could see and tell us first-hand about the Change have died. The ability to see the blue sky and the green grass has been lost. We know these facts about the sky and grass because they are part of our history, but we can no longer see them the way we could long ago. The world is now as black and white as the boxy tube televisions of the 1950s. The Change didn’t happen overnight. As a species, we didn’t wake up one morning without colour. No, the first signs of the Change happened when large numbers of children started to be born without the ability to see colour. This wasn’t an isolated incident confined to a small group of unfortunate children; it was happening in every country, family, and corner of the world. And, after generations of children born without the ability to see colours like orange or purple, the world became the Change. 

                  No longer would you ask a new acquaintance about their favorite colour. This Change affected everything from pop culture to everyday life. Vital records, including driver’s licenses, no longer list hair or eye colour. “Gingers” no longer could steal your soul. By now, few people have even heard of having ginger hair. Once, people would flock to fields of colourful flowers in the spring and take selfies. Now, the flowers all look the same. A rose’s colour no longer holds meaning, and rings no longer determine your mood. Time Square is still just as shiny but has lost its grandeur. A nation of people once so proud of their red, white, and blue now only see stars and stripes. When the ability to see colour left the people, the people clung to their stories about sunsets and clear blue oceans and the hope that one day colour would return to us. That was a long time ago…

Of course, scientists and doctors searched for the reason behind our new colour blindness, but science couldn’t answer, and the cure never came. Religious leaders proclaimed we brought this punishment upon ourselves, and we needed to repent! Conspiracy theorists, however, ran wild with ideas of government mind control and a new world order. Then there were the Others who looked for a more profound meaning behind the change: Could a species’ collective trauma affect generations in a way that colour no longer was? Perhaps this resulted from a generational trauma passed through birth manifested itself as black and white vision of a once colourful world. 

Before the Change, our choice of hair colour could change from traditional shades known as browns and blonds to lovely shades of pink and blue. One could say that Colourists as a profession dyed out with the Change. It’s easier to laugh about what we lost first and then jump into our collective trauma. There were great divides in thinking at the time. On one side, you had those who worried about moving too far forward and held onto the past with such verbosity as to take away the basic human rights of the Others. This group wanted to pacify those with deep religious beliefs and the close-minded. They believed that one gender was superior to the other, making decisions on behalf of the other gender. Before the Change, gender was defined by one of two sex organs determined at birth. 

They say it takes generations of such a mental shift to change society’s thinking about something that has been a truth for so long. In the time before the Change, humanity was on the verge of making a radical shift that would affect everyone. This shift would alter how we view each other. There was a choice: they could either move forward and understand that gender is fluid and personal or stay stagnant and be divided by misunderstandings. Hard lines had been drawn, and both sides were determined to win. Some thought they were fighting for the future of individual souls and that genders had to be assigned or eternal damnation would fall upon them. While the Others felt humanity would be better off without such boundaries. As a unique soul, each of us was entitled to absolute autonomy. 

The Rigid made their move using the courts controlled by judges who were partial to the Rigid cause, and the rights of the Others were taken away. Again and again. Human rights were taken away from the lesser gender. The world was at war. The Rigid could not see a future without defining and assigning genders and would use strict laws to control the people. As a result, humanity would not move forward, and a tight lid was put on the subject and locked away so that this messy business of gender would be in the past. Or so they hoped. You will be what you were assigned at birth. You will be assigned. Your assigned gender will control your life outcomes. You will not exist except within these laws we have made. They forced everyone into the black-and-white of their own making. And so it was; humanity began to be born without the colour around them. 

As it is known now, the Correction came when scientists noticed that colour-blind children were born to those with narrow views. The Others tried to help scientists distribute this newfound information to the masses. People would finally see the reason for the Change, at least for a while. Many who were once set in their thinking began to soften and understand gender as more than sex organs and gender roles. They became more accepting of individual autonomy. However, these inflexible thinkers hindered any potential impact of radical ideas during the Correction, which may have prevented the Change from taking hold. In other words, the Rigid would not concede or compromise with the Others, so the Correction wasn’t enough to stop the colour-blindness from becoming the future for all humankind. 

Death to the whole gender-fluid concept! Death for those who believe they can be who they feel they are! Death to those who don’t believe. Repent. Repent. Be saved! Save us all!   

The irony is that they couldn’t save themselves. Their thinking was stuck in black and white—no rainbow at the end of this story, just curved lines of greyscale. You can’t find happiness in a ray of sunshine when we’ve lost yellow and orange… And so the Change progressed. 

Scientists agree that the Correction inspired critical thinking and acceptance of others, slowing the change. This may have spared future generations and prevented the complete realization of the Change. But the Correction was no match for people fuelled by a belief so strong they would die for it. Sanctuary cities intended to protect those who were in hiding for their Otherness were swiftly destroyed in deadly raids and bombings by Governments who sponsored them in an attempt to gain ultimate control of the masses. And so, the Change was. 

Assigned gender at birth is now considered an odd, archaic concept. The process of procreation, including the fertilization of an egg by sperm, is well understood and a matter of science. You might be wondering how humanity got past the gender issue and came to an understanding between the different sides. In fact, the solution came down to simple mathematics. While the Rigid held positions of authority and could use their power to suppress and hold humanity back, the Rigid were the minority. The Others found strength in their numbers and came together to overthrow the law of the land. Riots in every major city’s streets and in small towns, were constant and ever-growing. If the Rigid were unconcerned by the masses of people seeking change, the numbers at the ballot box proved their downfall. And it worked. With new people in positions of authority, laws were slowly changed, and new voices of reason began to take over the airwaves on radio, television, and social media. The tipping point was reached, and the future was looking bright. But the Change still lingered even after the will of the Others helped change the world for the good of everyone.

Even though the Others prevailed, generations were born without the beautiful colours around them, and humanity has yet to heal from the trauma of the past. Many believe the pain from that time is deeply embedded in our genetic makeup and may take a millennium to undo. Some people believe that our inability to see colour is due to humanity’s failure to forgive the rigid thinkers of the past. This may be the one bridge yet crossed. You see, the Others now treat the rigid thinkers like second-class citizens because of a grudge they hold deep within themselves. To change the future for the next generations, humanity needs to create a safe environment for diverse thinking, especially regarding gender, and show more compassion towards those who hold different beliefs.  Only when Humanity collectively understands each other as individuals and fully accepts diversity will we be able to see colour once again. Until then, we wait.