What Star Trek Taught Us About Racial Equality
Boldly going where no one has gone before
My husband and I have been watching Star Trek: Voyager from start to finish over the last three or four months. We are finally in season 7, and I have been reflecting on the series as a whole.
Shamelessly, I will admit there have been more than a few nights spent binge watching it because we just can’t shut it off. The acting is incredible, the script is profound, but the life lessons that the writers managed to supplant into the storyline are ones not to be missed. However, one of the most significant things I’ve been considering is the way that Star Trek, as an entire franchise, again and again, has gone where no one has gone before when it comes to racial equality and diversity.
Even considering Star Trek’s storied history, it has had a knack for being edgy and ahead of its time. Consider Lieutenant Uhura found on the USS Enterprise. Nichelle Nichols, who portrays Uhura, was one of the first African-American women seen on television as a primary character that was not a servant or maid.
This did not come without a cost, however, as Nichols considered quitting Star Trek to pursue other dreams of performing on Broadway. Notably, the person who changed her mind was a man who had become quite a Star Trek fan himself: Martin Luther King Jr. In an article by the Washington Post, Nichols reflected,
“[Dr. King] approached me and said something along the lines of ‘Nichelle, whether you like it or not, you have become an symbol. If you leave, they can replace you with a blonde haired white girl, and it will be like you were never there. What you’ve accomplished, for all of us, will only be real if you stay.’ That got me thinking about how it would look for fans of color around the country if they saw me leave. I saw that this was bigger than just me.”
Perception is everything, and Star Trek made the fight for racial equality a little easier with this simple step of creating a racially diverse cast.
In the late 1990s, Star Trek continued to make history with Deep Space Nine when they cast Avery Brooks as Captain Benjamin Sisko. An LA Times article noted the dismal lack of diversity in the 26 new comedies and dramas at that time, despite the fact that many producers promised a more diverse cast. It was a rather brave move made by producers to stick with their chosen lead, a man of color, in a year in which white was the name of the game.
African Americans were not the only race to find time in the positive spotlight thanks to Star Trek. George Takei stepped into the role of Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, a Japanese helmsman on the USS Enterprise, in the 1960s. During World War II, the Japanese faced incredible scrutiny and distrust, leading to the internment of thousands of Japanese Americans. Even though thirty years had passed since the end of World War II, anti-Japanese sentiment was still somewhat of a problem during the 1960s. While Star Trek embraced their Japanese shipmate during that time, unfortunately, much of pop culture still portrayed Japanese characters in a negative light (notably Blade Runner and Back to the Future II).
When talking about Star Trek and racial diversity, I would be remiss to overlook perhaps the most significant event in television history, the kiss between Uhura and Captain Kirk, which is widely considered the first interracial kiss portrayed on television.
Slightly before the Uhura-Kirk-shot-heard-round-the-world-kiss in 1968, the portrayal of interracial relationships was banned in Hollywood and US law forbade interracial marriage until 1967. As one might assume, the show’s producers were quite nervous about how the audience would take this simple expression of love (even if it was at the direction of telekinetic aliens), but notably, the reception overall was positive.
Note: I must admit that while Star Trek was ahead of its time, in terms of racial equality, examples of gender equality were still in want. Kirk was a womanizer and often women were seen in subordinate roles under male leadership. Tides did change with the appearance of Captain Janeway (my favorite!) in Star Trek Voyager, but the gender desparity still is an issue that Star Trek seems to continue to struggle with.
Star Trek has had an incredible run over the last sixty years. They have forged new paths, made their viewers uncomfortable and helped people realize the importance of diversity. While Star Trek is far from perfect (as noted above), it has been a great catalyst for change in pop culture time and time again. Here is to another fifty years of brave movements forward in time and space.
