The Slow Creep of Normalization

The quiet way injustice becomes routine — and the loud work of undoing it

Photo by New York Said on Unsplash

You’ve probably had a moment in your life when you found yourself driving down a road you didn’t know. Maybe it was the first time you had been invited to your new partner's home.

You followed your GPS every step of the way because you’re not sure of your surroundings. All while navigating every curve like a teenager with a learner's permit, and cautiously maintaining the speed limit. We all do it when driving on unknown roads.

But after months of visiting your new boo, the route becomes familiar. You’ve learned every curve, memorized every stop sign, and know all the speed traps. You start driving with confidence.

With that familiarity, you drive faster, because you now know the way. You speed through the curves with ease and may even forget where you are because you’ve normalized the route; it’s second nature.

How quickly we become accustomed to something that was once foreign.

Case in point, during the final years of my federal career, I moved. I wanted to downsize and reduce my debt to prepare for retirement. The downside was that my work commute doubled to 51 mi one way.

In the beginning, the drive seemed endless. I’d listen to audiobooks, interview myself for promotion, and call anyone who was available. Those were some treacherous days, but I saw it as a means to an end. The trade-off wasn’t far off.

But around six months in, something shifted. I got used to the drive. Not in the “I love it” kind of way, but it didn’t seem as daunting. Don’t get me wrong, some days I really hated it. Other days, I’d be singing to and from work or listening to a podcast, trying to figure out who did it.

I never imagined a 100-mile round-trip commute could feel normal — but it did. I adapted. I adjusted. It became normalized.

That’s the part, normalizing something, that reminds me of what’s happening in society today.

Image by Jonathan Alcorn for The Times

We’re beginning to, or already have, normalize things we once recognized as taboo — like a President bullying his way through his term, labeling peaceful protesters as terrorists, assigning federal employees to kill U.S. citizens, arresting immigrants just because, and sending them to concentration camps with no criminal trials, knocking down part of the White House, and accepting a plane from the royal family of Qatar to name a few.

All of these acts are dangerous, unacceptable, and deeply wrong, but they’ve become the norm. Cruelty that used to shock us barely registers now because it happens so often. Racism that once sparked outrage gets shrugged off as “just how things are right now.”

But none of this is normal, shouldn’t be accepted as normal, and should be challenged!

Political division that, in the beginning, felt alarming has become background noise. We scroll past it in our social media feeds, drive past it for fear of being arrested ourselves, and live it every day, especially those of us who live in the National Capital Region.

I used to be a news junkie, but I’ve had to change my ways. Watching the news as often as I did before only agitates my anxiety.

The unfamiliar has become all too familiar. What was once unacceptable has become routine to the point that I ask myself, "Is this a new shooting, or is it the one from last week?”

On July 7th, the news was reporting about a man who was shot by ICE agents. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican citizen, stopped at a Home Depot to pick up day laborers when he was shot and killed. Again?

These types of incidents should make us slow down, pay attention, ask questions, and intervene. But there are so many! We’re becoming numb to the cold & cruel world we’re trying to navigate.

It’s not like any of us intend to treat the killing of Americans by other Americans as background noise. Or the mass incarceration and mistreatment of immigrants as just another headline. Or the criminal acts carried out by emboldened racists — and even by people in positions of power — as something we shrug off.

But we’re getting there. This is your reminder that none of this is normal.

No one wakes up and decides that political hostility, open bigotry, or the erosion of basic rights is acceptable. But that’s what normalization is. It’s quiet. It settles in, slowly, until the unthinkable starts to feel routine.

Photo by Josh Marty on Unsplash

We can’t afford to continue down this road with our eyes closed

If normalization is what numbs us, then intention is what wakes us back up. We have to question what we’re being asked to accept. We have to choose to stay human in moments that keep trying to strip the humanity out of us.

We can’t wait for the future to be safer, kinder, and more just. Three more years is a long time. We have to refuse to treat injustice as routine, starting right now. Here’s what we can do:

One of the first things we can do is stay awake, or stay woke, as Republicans love to say and constantly misuse the term. Refuse to look away from injustice simply because it’s exhausting. We’re all mentally exhausted, but we have to notice when something feels wrong and name it.

Stay informed. Talk about what you learn with people you trust. We’re not getting the whole truth! So when the truth is shared, it becomes grounding instead of overwhelming.

Speak up in our own circles. Some of the most important conversations happen at dinner with friends, in group chats, at work, or in casual meet-ups. When someone repeats misinformation, dehumanizes a group, or shrugs off cruelty as “normal,” challenge it.

Support organizations doing the work. This includes legal aid groups, immigrant support networks, civil rights organizations, and community leaders advocating for safety and dignity.

Vote! Not just in presidential elections but in local ones. Participating in local elections is one of the most direct ways to push back against harmful normalization.

Check on your neighbors. Support people who are targeted or marginalized. Build community. Isolation makes us easier to manipulate; connection makes us harder to divide.

Refuse to treat cruelty as routine. Refuse to let racism blend into the background. Refuse to accept political violence as inevitable. Refuse to let corruption pass as “just politics.”

The slippery slope of getting used to something is that we stop noticing things and begin to think that’s the way it’s supposed to be. It’s not.

Remember that none of this is normal.

Edrika Gutierrez, a retired law enforcement captain, loves coffee, her dog Teddy, and fitness. She explores a wide range of themes through personal reflections drawn from her own life and things that interest her. Stay in Touch!