I have never been the world’s biggest fan of Apple, so what I am about to say doesn’t come naturally. But I am now beginning to believe that Steve Jobs, the company’s late co-founder, should be seen as a hero of the US civil rights movement.

Although Jobs probably had other things on his mind when he introduced the iPhone in 2007, the smartphone revolution that he once led is shaking up US race relations just as surely as sit-ins, freedom rides and mass marches did during the last century.

Gone are the days when the bad apples in US police departments could lean on our African-American citizens without serious risk of exposure. Smart phones have grown ubiquitous, particularly among the young, and their video capabilities are shifting power to the people on the streets, enabling them to record their interactions with the authorities for all the world to see on social media and television.