Is Deep Space Nine racist?
- Thread starter Destructor
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What a question.
Klingons and Cardassians are not real species, nor are they meant to stereotypically represent any real human races in any way whatsoever.
No, DS9 is not racist.
Kor
Someone said (I don't remember whom) that I was stereotyping St species. I basically told them to get a life. I think I was being too subtle.
Or you just have a rubber allergy.
As many others on this thread have pointed out, Klingons, Cardassians and the like are not different races but different species--and fictional species, at that. Sometimes sci fi (including Star Trek) uses alien species to allegorize human races, but not always, so not every problem with the fictional representation of alien species is a racial or racist problem.
Sci fi often explores what it means to be human and uses aliens as a contrast. And that contrast is often distorted like a fun house mirror, in order to draw attention to a particular point of contrast through the technique of exaggeration. The aliens are exaggerated and their negative attributes are emphasized, not to draw a point of analogy with any human race, but to draw a point of contrast with the human species. The singularity of the fictional aliens demonstrates the complexity of real humanity.
The subtly racist problem arises when the authors conception of what it means to be human looks too much like what it means to belong to a specific race or culture. Then you have the (often unintended) implication that people of other races and cultures aren't human enough, not because they necessarily look too much like the Ferengi but because they don't look Starfleet enough. Deep Space Nine's use of root beer comes to mind. For Quark and Garak (and as near as I can gather, for the show's creators), rootbeer becomes this symbol of the human, Federation spirit, when in fact it's an American drink many people in other parts of the world haven't tasted or can't stand. The show's use of rootbeer isn't "racist," in the most intentional and noxious sense of that term, but it is racially problematic, and all the more so because apparently unconscious.
Sci fi often explores what it means to be human and uses aliens as a contrast. And that contrast is often distorted like a fun house mirror, in order to draw attention to a particular point of contrast through the technique of exaggeration. The aliens are exaggerated and their negative attributes are emphasized, not to draw a point of analogy with any human race, but to draw a point of contrast with the human species. The singularity of the fictional aliens demonstrates the complexity of real humanity.
The subtly racist problem arises when the authors conception of what it means to be human looks too much like what it means to belong to a specific race or culture. Then you have the (often unintended) implication that people of other races and cultures aren't human enough, not because they necessarily look too much like the Ferengi but because they don't look Starfleet enough. Deep Space Nine's use of root beer comes to mind. For Quark and Garak (and as near as I can gather, for the show's creators), rootbeer becomes this symbol of the human, Federation spirit, when in fact it's an American drink many people in other parts of the world haven't tasted or can't stand. The show's use of rootbeer isn't "racist," in the most intentional and noxious sense of that term, but it is racially problematic, and all the more so because apparently unconscious.
^ So the Federation universe is not Terrancentric but Anglo- Americancentric.
English is the Standard language
Starfleet HQ is in San Francisco (why?)
Most ships have Earth names
Most Enterprise captains are American
Most Starfleet officers seem to be humans from North America
Spock's mum is American, why not make her British or German or Asian
(ok I know the reasons)
English is the Standard language
Starfleet HQ is in San Francisco (why?)
Most ships have Earth names
Most Enterprise captains are American
Most Starfleet officers seem to be humans from North America
Spock's mum is American, why not make her British or German or Asian
(ok I know the reasons)
Yes, but even the American focus of Star Trek isn't as simple as pure ethnocentrism or racism.
Take the example of Sulu. The writers wanted him to be interested in Samurai warfare (whether because Sulu was supposed to be Japanese or because he was supposed to be a Japanese-American intensely interested in his racial heritage, I don't know). But George Takei protested. He wanted Sulu's interest to be in fencing. After all, any kid who grew up in San Francisco might be interested in fencing and the Three Musketeers, regardless of that kid's racial background.
Now you could say that Takei made the show more Western-centric. But what he actually did was help the show portray Japanese-Americans with more sensitivity, diversity and accuracy. Star Trek is an American show and thus naturally interested in using its fiction to comment on what America is. Takei helped the show better represent what America is.
But the problem comes when American, human, and Federation get mixed up and collapsed by writers or viewers who forget that Star Trek is an American fiction.
Take the example of Sulu. The writers wanted him to be interested in Samurai warfare (whether because Sulu was supposed to be Japanese or because he was supposed to be a Japanese-American intensely interested in his racial heritage, I don't know). But George Takei protested. He wanted Sulu's interest to be in fencing. After all, any kid who grew up in San Francisco might be interested in fencing and the Three Musketeers, regardless of that kid's racial background.
Now you could say that Takei made the show more Western-centric. But what he actually did was help the show portray Japanese-Americans with more sensitivity, diversity and accuracy. Star Trek is an American show and thus naturally interested in using its fiction to comment on what America is. Takei helped the show better represent what America is.
But the problem comes when American, human, and Federation get mixed up and collapsed by writers or viewers who forget that Star Trek is an American fiction.
I really think you are reading a little too much into it. They said it was a human drink not that it was universally loved. What is a non-problematic alternative? I can't think of any drinks off the top my head other than water that everybody on earth drinks and enjoys. Especially ones that are bubbly, cloying, and happy. Also whatever you pick needs to be familiar to the American TV watching audience.
DS9 is not racist but it's race aware.
I would suggest that some form of Cola would be more representative. While also of American origin, it has taken much greater hold internationally than root beer could ever hope to.
Kor
The thing is, they obviously chose Root Beer because it's the only Soft Drink that is a commonly used generic name. Everything else requires a brand name. Can't use Coke, or Pepsi, or Sprite, or Dr. Pepper. Nobody just says Cola, that would sound weird. It's Root Beer or you rewrite the entire speech.
How about Slug-o-Cola?
Ewww. Pop is disgusting enough, I can't imagine what it must taste like replicated. 
srsly, Kor's got the right idea. Just say 'cola' and be done with it. Kind of like how Southerners call everything "coke", even if it's Pepsi or some other brand.
srsly, Kor's got the right idea. Just say 'cola' and be done with it. Kind of like how Southerners call everything "coke", even if it's Pepsi or some other brand.
Ewww. Pop is disgusting enough, I can't imagine what it must taste like replicated.
srsly, Kor's got the right idea. Just say 'cola' and be done with it. Kind of like how Southerners call everything "coke", even if it's Pepsi or some other brand.
I don't know if replicated food tastes worse than the real thing. It could all be psychological. Like people who get sick when they learn that what they ate and thought was so delicious was really snails.
Ah, somebody who agrees with Quark and Garak.Ewww. Pop is disgusting enough, I can't imagine what it must taste like replicated.
Kor
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