Sisko's racial rant in Badda-Bing Badda-Bang

[Cyke101]

Sisko was raised in an era where racism is unknown,

This I disagree with, and we're reminded of racism in almost every episode of DS9 simply because of its premise: Cardassians Vs. Bajorans. Even when you take away the political, social, post-war drama, both sides still resorted to denegrating the other side. Cardassians were automatically monsters and Bajorans were a culturally inferior, backwater people, at least to the characters. Sisko being the Emissary AND more or less the Federation's moderator between the two sides, he's very aware of racism in the 24th century.

A few Starfleet officers didn't help matters much, either. They had their own derogatory term for Cardassians: spoonheads. The way it was used is comparable to gook, chink, jap, nigger, cracker, etc. etc. (and its usage certainly didn't paint those officers in a positive light, either).

Come to think of it, highly-educated Dr. Bashir had this naive and condescending attitude towards Bajor until Kira called him out on it.

 

[TheGodBen]

But it was not in your face.

Yeah it was. The Federation was a giant commune, the Ferengi were supposed to represent modern day capitalists, warp engines destroyed the fabric of space-time, Riker was gay for that dude/chick... and on, and on, and on and oooooon.

Strangers, waitin'! Up and down the boulevard! Their shadows, searchin' in the niiiiiiiiiiight!

*cough*

 

[DevilEyes]

That has gotta be the most cringe worthy moment on DS9.

Sisko just went into militant black man mode which just didn't fit with Star Treks we are one race...the human race attitude.

Don't know whose bright idea it was to put that in there ,but it was just bad.

Sorry it's supposed to be the far future...the 'our people' attitude should be a thing of the past especially with the uncountable alien races that have come ,and gone though Star Trek.

I agree it was ill-advised. I don't know whether it was the fault of the scriptwriters or Brooks' idea but it was completely out of place in the context of a space station some time in the future. It jarred with me the first time I saw it.

I don't think it was ill-advised, I think it was exactly what they had to do, and I would have found it jarring if they did not, and pretended that Las Vegas of the 1960s was this wonderful place of racial equality. That would have been almost as jarring and stupid as VOY's idiotic holodeck episodes "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk" with their idyllic carefree Irish village that is "historically accurate" according to Janeway, even though it, among other things, completely overlooks such things as the mass hunger that was going on in Ireland at the time that it represents (which I'm sure TheGodBen is ready to tell you a lot more about).

So what is your idea of the perfect future? The time when people forget everything about the past, don't learn history, or rewrite so that it says that the Earth was always this great place of tolerance and equality where everything was peachy and there were never any such things as racism, colonialism, slavery...? I find that quite disturbing. Fortunately, it's not the case. Even Quark knew the real Earth's history. I'm glad that DS9 implied that people did not forget or decide to ignore Earth's history - or rather, the writers did not try to ignore the ugly historical truth.

The whole idea of the holosuite (much as I hate it) is leisure. The avatars in any program are going to be created by contemporary coders, which means every program will be imbued with the ethos of the time the coders are living in. It's daft to think the avatars were programmed with medieval / Victorian / insert time of choice attitudes, since they were going to be interacting with an awful lot of very strange looking people. In Voyager, for instance (giving that bloody awful 'Oirish' village a large bodyswerve) the captain created a da Vinci program in which she spent a lot of time talking to the great man without changing into contemporaneous costume. The avatar didn't bat an eye. Nor did any of them when faced with aliens in any program. Therefore the idea that any particular game was offensive simply because of the era and location is preposterous.

The idea that a blatant historical lie is offensive is preposterous?

The audience would have been happier if they had resisted the impulse to speechify and just got on with the show

I think you would have been happier but I was in the audience too and I didn't have a problem with it. The episode was a pretty stupid one anyway (since nothing of consequence happened during the whole show) so its not as if his speech held up the "good parts" that followed it. How many times did the fact that Janeway was a woman come up? A lot right? How many times did it come up that Sisko was black? Yeah... so cut 'em so slack.

-Withers-​

I think you should perhaps consider that the proposal that Janeway being a woman and Sisko being black are completely unworthy of comment.

In 24th century, definitely. But to pretend that it wouldn't have mattered in the 1950s or 1960s would be both stupid and dishonest.

I'm surprised they didn't go further ,and have Sisko accusing the others of racism for liking Vic so much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_sequitur_%28logic%29

The writers explanation for this is lame as well.

People aren't as dumb as he thinks ,and there's a thing they teach kids in school...history.

Nobody is going to think a holodeck on a sci fi show is real life.

So you think that you can show any kind of crap in a holodeck or in a SciFi show? Like, say, if you made a movie about a democratic Germany in the late 1930s and early 1940s where Jews were happy and safe and had all the rights, you would be surprised if anyone fou nd it offensive?

Which is not to say that Vic's holodeck Las Vegas is necessarily wrong and offensive and shouldn't be presented that way: Kasidy's defense of the program is a good one (and she managed to convince Sisk) - as she says, you should look at it as a representation of what it should have been like, not what it really was. But if that scene did not exist, if the issue hadn't been raised, the episode would be ignoring history, too, and it would look very dishonest and be prone to a lot more legitimate criticism.

 

[Withers]

So you think that you can show any kind of crap in a holodeck or in a SciFi show? Like, say, if you made a movie about a democratic Germany in the late 1930s and early 1940s where Jews were happy and safe and had all the rights, you would be surprised if anyone find it offensive?

Which is not to say that Vic's holodeck Las Vegas is necessarily wrong and offensive and shouldn't be presented that way: Kasidy's defense of the program is a good one (and she managed to convince Sisk) - as she says, you should look at it as a representation of what it should have been like, not what it really was. But if that scene did not exist, if the issue hadn't been raised, the episode would be ignoring history, too, and it would look very dishonest and be prone to a lot more legitimate criticism.

This.


One speech in an episode where nothing of consequence is going on and suddenly Sisko is an angry black man touting 20th century liberal views? It's the one time anything like this happens and I don't think it could've been placed any more appropriately.

-Withers-​

 

[garamet]

First of all, if we were to eliminate "speechifying" from all flavors of Trek, there'd be precious little left that wouldn't fit into an RPG. If only Picard had shut up and made a decision once in a while, for example, it would be a very different universe.

The fact that one speech in this particular episode makes some people uncomfortable means that it's done its job.

To reiterate what other posters have already said: It's essential to set this piece in the history of its time. To pretend that Las Vegas was integrated in the 1960s is quite literally a whitewash.

Historically, black performers were not permitted to stay in the same hotels or eat in the same restaurants in the places where they performed. The fact that some here aren't even aware of the history of the time is indicative of just how often this needs to be emphasized.

Sisko's speech is eminently appropriate and delivered in context. Anyone who finds it uncomfortable needs to ask themselves why.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

That has gotta be the most cringe worthy moment on DS9.

Sisko just went into militant black man mode which just didn't fit with Star Treks we are one race...the human race attitude.

Don't know whose bright idea it was to put that in there ,but it was just bad.

Sorry it's supposed to be the far future...the 'our people' attitude should be a thing of the past especially with the uncountable alien races that have come ,and gone though Star Trek.

It WAS bad, for all the reasons you stated. Unless the intent was to suggest that humans only buried their hate and never actually DEALT with it as we were supposed to have thought from TOS...

Sisko was better when no one, including him, gave a damn about race other than simply being pleased with his heritage as anyone should be. Even UHURA was handled better than in that episode, and that was right in the thick of it, in the 60s! But THIS Sisko...the Sisko that made that rant...well, I wouldn't be comfortable getting an OPR from him because I would be concerned I would be judged because of what some people centuries ago did instead of on my own merits.

If it HAD to be brought up that the real 60s were different, it would have been better to have Sisko comment that yes, Vic's amounted to a fantasy environment--but the fact that now you could create something where all are welcome is a sign of how far humanity had come. ALIENS could go to Vic's and be accepted--THAT sure as hell wouldn't have happened on 20th-century Earth without the military getting called in.

I would've accepted something that looked at what had been accomplished--gratitude to live in a better time than what he saw in "Far Beyond the Stars." The idea that after all that suffering, humanity came TOGETHER and built something better. NOT a rant that was basically a great big condemnation of part of the show's audience.

And there's the other great big HUGE thing the writers completely gave no thought to. When you consider this, what Sisko said becomes outright horrifying.

Remember--Vic was NOT a 20th-century white man. He was a sentient hologram; therefore his form was only because Felix decided to make him look that way. His entire life experience is different from any human...his entire way of perceiving the world. And his life was in danger.

Put simply, Sisko was willing to let what amounted to an alien lifeform DIE because of a centuries-old racial thing that Vic was NEVER party to. And that was just petty, cold, and frankly, Dukat-like.

 

[Sykonee]

Remember--Vic was NOT a 20th-century white man. He was a sentient hologram; therefore his form was only because Felix decided to make him look that way. His entire life experience is different from any human...his entire way of perceiving the world. And his life was in danger.

Er, in that case, I'd put the blame on Felix for creating a situation where Vic's existence would be put in danger in the first place, all for fun and games.

 

[Withers]

Put simply, Sisko was willing to let what amounted to an alien lifeform DIE because of a centuries-old racial thing that Vic was NEVER party to. And that was just petty, cold, and frankly, Dukat-like.

Congratulations! You've won "Most Ridiculous Comment of the Week!" I mean.. do I even need to explain why?

-Withers-​

 

[TheGodBen]

I don't think it was ill-advised, I think it was exactly what they had to do, and I would have found it jarring if they did not, and pretended that Las Vegas of the 1960s was this wonderful place of racial equality. That would have been almost as jarring and stupid as VOY's idiotic holodeck episodes "Fair Haven" and "Spirit Folk" with their idyllic carefree Irish village that is "historically accurate" according to Janeway, even though it, among other things, completely overlooks such things as the mass hunger that was going on in Ireland at the time that it represents (which I'm sure TheGodBen is ready to tell you a lot more about).

*gets on soap-box*

Indeed, I can accept Irish stereotyping some of the time, but those episodes completely ignored the fact that Ireland was, essentially, an occupied country that had just exited what was the darkest era of our history. It was a time of political and social change with things such as the Land War, the Irish Home Rule movement and mass emigration. And while Catholics were officially emancipated they were still held back because of their religion. And then one of the stereotypical Irish characters mentions that the potatoes in some town went rotten in 1846 because of fairies?

There was a bloody potato famine! One million people starved to death! The social implications lasted well into the 20th century, possibly even up to the 1980s. This is supposed to be historically accurate?!

When I first saw Badda-Bing Badda-Bang Sisko's speech stood out as a bad thing, but when I rewatched it years later I was glad that it was there. At least the writers were acknowledging that Vic's program was a fantasy, and I think that Kasidy's counter-argument was reasonably effective.

Okay, fine.

Any way you want it. Just the way you need it. Any way you want it...

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Remember--Vic was NOT a 20th-century white man. He was a sentient hologram; therefore his form was only because Felix decided to make him look that way. His entire life experience is different from any human...his entire way of perceiving the world. And his life was in danger.

Er, in that case, I'd put the blame on Felix for creating a situation where Vic's existence would be put in danger in the first place, all for fun and games.

And I have thought of that--Felix DOES deserve blame for coldly endangering the lifeform he created. But Sisko also deserves blame for being willing to go along with it out of a racial grudge when Vic DOES NOT belong to said race in the first place. (And it would've been wrong if Vic were flesh and blood, too.) He wasn't simply going to be pooping on his friends' party. He was going to be allowing a lifeform that he would have most definitely KNOWN was sentient die. (And after the multiple cases of sentient or invasive programs, as ship's commander it was absolutely his job to know he had a sentient AI aboard.) It's so against the spirit of Star Trek it's disgusting.

 

[Withers]

And I have thought of that--Felix DOES deserve blame for coldly endangering the lifeform he created. But Sisko also deserves blame for being willing to go along with it out of a racial grudge when Vic DOES NOT belong to said race in the first place. (And it would've been wrong if Vic were flesh and blood, too.) He wasn't simply going to be pooping on his friends' party. He was going to be allowing a lifeform that he would have most definitely KNOWN was sentient die. (And after the multiple cases of sentient or invasive programs, as ship's commander it was absolutely his job to know he had a sentient AI aboard.) It's so against the spirit of Star Trek it's disgusting.

First of all if The Doctor (who saves peoples lives and runs 24 seven and can move about the ship freely and defy the Captains Orders etc.) wasn't defined as a person there's no way Vic could've been. He was a holosuite program, sentient or not, and so this idea that allowing his program to be deleted is somehow tantamount to Sisko condoning murder is outrageous.

Secondly, Sisko had every right not participate in a leisure activity (a holosuite program) if he didn't want to do so regardless of the reason. His reason so happened to be justified (in that he didn't want to participate in what he saw as an unrealistic representation of a very serious issue) but that is beside the point- Station Commander or not he isn't required to go to holosuites to keep computer programs from being deleted.

Finally, the only thing I find disgusting is the notion that ignoring the past rather than addressing it is what would lead to a more Utopian future. The people who are so bothered by these few lines of dialogue should really look in the mirror and ask themselves why.

-Withers-​

 

[John200]

Put simply, Sisko was willing to let what amounted to an alien lifeform DIE because of a centuries-old racial thing that Vic was NEVER party to. And that was just petty, cold, and frankly, Dukat-like.

Ah you do realise that Vic is just a 24th century equivalent of a Sony PlayStation game character.

Even UHURA was handled better than in that episode, and that was right in the thick of it, in the 60s!

Loved how she said 'we've learned not to fear words'

Said it all without a 20th century style rant.

So you think that you can show any kind of crap in a holodeck or in a SciFi show? Like, say, if you made a movie about a democratic Germany in the late 1930s and early 1940s where Jews were happy and safe and had all the rights, you would be surprised if anyone find it offensive?

Don't recall any mass killing in 60's Vegas.

Yeah it was. The Federation was a giant commune, the Ferengi were supposed to represent modern day capitalists, warp engines destroyed the fabric of space-time, Riker was gay for that dude/chick... and on, and on, and on and oooooon.

I was really talking about the Original Series.

It struck the right balance.

True as Trek went on the PC began to stand out more ,and more.

Better than a nutjob conservative agenda.

God I don't want that either.

My views are more independent...a rising third option

 

[DevilEyes]

Sisko was better when no one, including him, gave a damn about race other than simply being pleased with his heritage as anyone should be. Even UHURA was handled better than in that episode, and that was right in the thick of it, in the 60s!

I really don't understand what you mean here. Uhura couldn't have had any kind of racial "rant" because I doubt that the TV censors would have ever allowed in the 1960s.

If it HAD to be brought up that the real 60s were different, it would have been better to have Sisko comment that yes, Vic's amounted to a fantasy environment--but the fact that now you could create something where all are welcome is a sign of how far humanity had come. ALIENS could go to Vic's and be accepted--THAT sure as hell wouldn't have happened on 20th-century Earth without the military getting called in.

Which is what Kasidy said. I don't see a problem here.

NOT a rant that was basically a great big condemnation of part of the show's audience.

How so?

 

[Kegg]

I would must certainly hope Sisko's rant wasn't a condemnation of a big part of DS9's audience, as that implicitly suggests that DS9 had a substantial number of racist viewers.

I can understand considering the argument preachy, or out of place for such a frivolous episode, but I really can't wrap my head around disagreeing with the actual content. Blacks were discriminated against. This is wrong. Egad, what is controversial about those last two sentences?

Also, the original Star Trek had some big racial rants. "Let The Earth Be Your Last Battlefield" is one big statement about the race situation in America, with an absolute minimum of subtelty.

There was a bloody potato famine! One million people starved to death! The social implications lasted well into the 20th century, possibly even up to the 1980s. This is supposed to be historically accurate?!

And the country continued to export food during the famine. The cultural impact really can't be understated, either - from Swift's hilariously droll Modest Proposal (his biting black satire that suggested the Irish eat their babies) to basically the enduring idea of misery and hardship in Ireland owe a lot to those years. I remember in primary school the Great Famine was half the history textbook.

But yeah, I always hated those episodes. Folksy Irish blarney. (Item: Nobody actually says blarney.) I get the feeling this crap just wouldn't have flown on Deep Space Nine, where I hear Colm Meaney - thankfully - axed the idea of the character that became Rumpelstiltskin being a leprechaun.

Ahem.

The point is it's entirely possible to be offended by the notions of a fantasy environment. I sure as hell would not want to participate in the "Spirit Folk" holodeck program, and yeah, I would be pretty rankled by it, and yes, I'm being rankled by something that happened well over a century ago to ancestors long dead.

But you know, people can be like that.

 

[DevilEyes]

And I have thought of that--Felix DOES deserve blame for coldly endangering the lifeform he created. But Sisko also deserves blame for being willing to go along with it out of a racial grudge when Vic DOES NOT belong to said race in the first place. (And it would've been wrong if Vic were flesh and blood, too.) He wasn't simply going to be pooping on his friends' party. He was going to be allowing a lifeform that he would have most definitely KNOWN was sentient die. (And after the multiple cases of sentient or invasive programs, as ship's commander it was absolutely his job to know he had a sentient AI aboard.) It's so against the spirit of Star Trek it's disgusting.

First of all if The Doctor (who saves peoples lives and runs 24 seven and can move about the ship freely and defy the Captains Orders etc.) wasn't defined as a person there's no way Vic could've been. He was a holosuite program, sentient or not, and so this idea that allowing his program to be deleted is somehow tantamount to Sisko condoning murder is outrageous.

Secondly, Sisko had every right not participate in a leisure activity (a holosuite program) if he didn't want to do so regardless of the reason. His reason so happened to be justified (in that he didn't want to participate in what he saw as an unrealistic representation of a very serious issue) but that is beside the point- Station Commander or not he isn't required to go to holosuites to keep computer programs from being deleted.

Finally, the only thing I find disgusting is the notion that ignoring the past rather than addressing it is what would lead to a more Utopian future. The people who are so bothered by these few lines of dialogue should really look in the mirror and ask themselves why.

-Withers-​

Trek was never really consistent when it came to the treatment of hologram sentiency. Just look at VOY, which dealt with this issue the most. The Doctor seemed to be treated as a member of the crew in one episode, then a program in another. They also never really draw a clear line between sentient and non-sentient holograms. In Nothing Human, everybody treated the Crell Moset hologram as if he was actually Crell Moset personally (and I thought we knew that The Doctor was not the same person as Lewis Zimmerman!), and responsible for all that Moset had done - even though he was created by The Doctor himself, and was just an approximation of Moset's personality, based on the insufficient and partial data about him from the Starfleet records (which did not even contain any of the information about the atrocities he committed, and apparently made Moset's record look good enough for the Doctor to choose to make a hologram of him). The Doctor treated the Moset hologram as sentient - during the first half of the episode, he treated him as a friend and colleague. Then later he seemed to be offended by some of the things the Moset hologram had said and suggested, and deleted his program! If the Moset hologram was sentient, wasn't that murder?! And if the Moset hologram was not sentient, than the only person to be blamed for any character deficiencies and bad ethics he displayed could only be his creator - the Doctor himself!

 

[Withers]

If not necessarily consistent it was at the very least established that holograms were not, as a default position, considered to be people. The Doctor came as close as any hologram ever had to that distinction but, even in spite of his laudable service undeniable human characteristics, Starfleet wasn't ready to declare that the Doctor was a person. If he couldn't have that distinction made of him I have a hard time believing Vic Fontaine had the distinction made of him.

To further suggest that by initially not wanting to participate in said holosuite program Sisko was condoning murder is, as an extension of that line of thinking, unreasonable and outlandish at the very least. That what my whole point in making mention of it at all.

-Withers-​

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

And I have thought of that--Felix DOES deserve blame for coldly endangering the lifeform he created. But Sisko also deserves blame for being willing to go along with it out of a racial grudge when Vic DOES NOT belong to said race in the first place. (And it would've been wrong if Vic were flesh and blood, too.) He wasn't simply going to be pooping on his friends' party. He was going to be allowing a lifeform that he would have most definitely KNOWN was sentient die. (And after the multiple cases of sentient or invasive programs, as ship's commander it was absolutely his job to know he had a sentient AI aboard.) It's so against the spirit of Star Trek it's disgusting.

First of all if The Doctor (who saves peoples lives and runs 24 seven and can move about the ship freely and defy the Captains Orders etc.) wasn't defined as a person there's no way Vic could've been. He was a holosuite program, sentient or not, and so this idea that allowing his program to be deleted is somehow tantamount to Sisko condoning murder is outrageous.

Secondly, Sisko had every right not participate in a leisure activity (a holosuite program) if he didn't want to do so regardless of the reason. His reason so happened to be justified (in that he didn't want to participate in what he saw as an unrealistic representation of a very serious issue) but that is beside the point- Station Commander or not he isn't required to go to holosuites to keep computer programs from being deleted.

Finally, the only thing I find disgusting is the notion that ignoring the past rather than addressing it is what would lead to a more Utopian future. The people who are so bothered by these few lines of dialogue should really look in the mirror and ask themselves why.

The problem for me is that Vic was an alien lifeform, not a white man of the 60s, and no matter what the objections, preservation of his life should've been paramount. He might've been born from a holosuite program, but he evolved and became something more than that.

It wasn't right in "Flesh and Blood" (VOY) to mistreat Kejal because she was made in the form of a Cardassian. B'Elanna got told she had to put her feelings aside and work with Kejal regardless of what she looked like. Kejal was a photonic life-form, which makes her entire ability to know and perceive the world fundamentally different. Same deal with Vic...as a photonic lifeform (and one of the very first the Federation would've known about at this stage, only preceded by Moriarty), he would amount to a member of a newborn/endangered species.

Let's go back to the past precedent. Moriarty, when it was discovered he was sentient and dangerous wasn't deleted. Nor was Pup, whose intellectual and communicative capacity was animal-like rather than on par with a being like the Doctor or Data. Pup definitely was not a humanoid-equivalent and yet was permitted to live.

And now we've brought up the most damning precedent: Data. Data actually went through a trial where his personhood was called into question and he won. The legal precedent from that should have extended onto any lifeform of artificial origins, including Vic. Just because Data's consciousness was confined to a constructed body and Vic's was free on the computer network isn't reason for that precedent not to apply. Starfleet (but really the writers) ignored the established legal precedent in that regard.

And given that, Vic's life should have been treated the same as any flesh-and-blood being caught in a holosuite malfunction rather than sitting back and acting like it's OK not to expend all possible effort to keep him from getting killed. To take out the historical grudge/problem on Vic, who was a fundamentally different lifeform, was just wrong.

Put simply, Sisko was willing to let what amounted to an alien lifeform DIE because of a centuries-old racial thing that Vic was NEVER party to. And that was just petty, cold, and frankly, Dukat-like.

Ah you do realise that Vic is just a 24th century equivalent of a Sony PlayStation game character.

Most holograms were like that--however, it was explicitly stated that Vic was self-aware, and he manifested the ability to express his own desires and grow beyond the capabilities of his own software. When Data and the Doctor did that--they had to be treated as sentient.

Sisko was better when no one, including him, gave a damn about race other than simply being pleased with his heritage as anyone should be. Even UHURA was handled better than in that episode, and that was right in the thick of it, in the 60s!

I really don't understand what you mean here. Uhura couldn't have had any kind of racial "rant" because I doubt that the TV censors would have ever allowed in the 1960s.

Even if such a rant were allowed, I think the much stronger statement was that people had progressed so far in the 23rd century that no grudges were borne. You didn't see McCoy and Uhura getting into it. You could actually look at the TOS crew and believe that the crew really had moved on.

(Now, McCoy's mouthing off about SPOCK is a whole other question...but it's not simply thrown in our faces--rather, the audience is given credit that they are intelligent enough to figure out why what McCoy is saying about Vulcans is wrong.)

NOT a rant that was basically a great big condemnation of part of the show's audience.

How so?

It's the idea that those who never behaved in a racist manner in their lives (such as Vic) should have to be punished for what their antecedents did, when they were not the ones who made those reprehensible choices and wouldn't dream of doing so.

 

[DevilEyes]

It's the idea that those who never behaved in a racist manner in their lives (such as Vic) should have to be punished for what their antecedents did, when they were not the ones who made those reprehensible choices and wouldn't dream of doing so.

Eh, Sisko wasn't saying that anyone should be punished for anything, he just didn't want to participate in a holodeck program he had a problem with.

The idea of Vic being a person never even came up - Kasidy didn't raise it any more than Sisko did - and I don't believe that Sisko even considered Vic a person. Sisko didn't even know Vic, and holograms were not officially recognized as people by the Federation. Even the VOY crew didn't always treat The Doctor as a person.

 

[Withers]

And given that, Vic's life should have been treated the same as any flesh-and-blood being caught in a holosuite malfunction rather than sitting back and acting like it's OK not to expend all possible effort to keep him from getting killed. To take out the historical grudge/problem on Vic, who was a fundamentally different lifeform, was just wrong.

The Doctor wasn't declared a person so Vic couldn't possibly have been either. It's as simple as that. Even if they had declared Vic a person somehow it isn't like it's the Captains job to personally save every single person who is in danger. They're fighting a war so the idea that the entire senior staff assembled to participate should be enough whether Sisko wants to go or not regardless of his reasoning. (I know there was some line in there about their needed another person to participate but it wasn't as though it couldn't have been gotten around.)

As far as their law had established Vic wasn't a person. And no one in the show ever declared Vic to be a person and so by not participating in the aversion of his deletion one can hardly be accused of murdering anyone. There wasn't anything to be "murdered."

It's the idea that those who never behaved in a racist manner in their lives (such as Vic) should have to be punished for what their antecedents did, when they were not the ones who made those reprehensible choices and wouldn't dream of doing so.

You make it sound like Sisko punched Vic in throat and walked away humming "That's what you get." Again, Vic wasn't a person, so he wasn't "being punished" for anything. Sisko simply objected (at first) to participating in a holographic whitewashing of a sensitive time in the history of his heritage. It had nothing to do with Vic and everything to do with Las Vegas of 1960. It's starting to come across like Sisko suggested Affirmative Action or something and he didn't.

Racism existed. It was bad. Sisko pointed the fact out. What is so crazy about that?

-Withers-​

 

[Rush Limborg]

It's crazy, sir, because, like SO MANY "civil rights" activists of today, Sisko FAILED to acknowledge that, REGARDLESS of how the '60s "really" were like...the world of Vic's lounge was NOT racist. And when Kassidy pointed it out, Sisko just brushed it aside, and CONTINUED.

Ben, I hate to break it to ya, buddy, but VIC FONTAINE IS NOT A RACIST!!! And acting like he is...because of the time period he's supposed to be "set" in...frankly, it's almost as if Ben's become racist himself.

Again, as Kassidy points out.