Until the last year of the 1960s, here in the UK, we only had 'zebra crossings' with 'Belisha beacons’.

In 1969, the first ‘pelican crossing’ was introduced and, over the years, has all but replaced the ‘Belisha beacon/zebra crossing’ combination. Latterly, the ‘puffin crossing’ has all but eclipsed the ‘pelican crossing’.

In all instances, the little ‘man’ is either red or green.

In France, instead of the beeps, informing blind pedestrians of when it’s safe to cross, you’ll often hear a voice on loop: “Attendez, piétons” (“Wait pedestrians”) when the ‘man’ is red … or “Traversez, piétons” (“Cross, pedestrians”) when green.

Just as the French approach is of no use to anyone who is not a French-speaker, so the red/green combination is unhelpful to those who are red/green colour-blind.

Equally, blue/yellow would be of no help to those who are colour-blind in that spectrum.

Those who are completely colour-blind are helpless when confronted with anything other than white/black.

A white figure ensures that the colour-blind individual is in no doubt when it is safe to cross — under other circumstances, depending upon which colour they are blind to, they will be unsure whether the ‘man’ is red/green/blue/yellow or whether the system is simply broken.

Irrespective of your racial/ethnic heritage, be proud of your little, white person, therefore … because this is an instance in which the US is ahead of the rest of the World in terms of inclusiveness, as everyone is catered for … and take the opportunity to reflect upon the fact that, whilst they are by far and away the most privileged, not only ‘white’ people are privileged in this world.