I'm new. To what are you referring? Or is that a question that is against the rules?
The racist legacy of Star Trek
- Thread starter Afrika Bambaata
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I'm new. To what are you referring? Or is that a question that is against the rules?
What it the person who was wearing the Redshirt was black, female or Asian? Was does that mean?
It's okay to ask. Bob outlined what went down a page back. If you want to read through them, here are the links he provided.
I don't doubt that there was some kind of communication between Nichelle and MLK regarding her staying with the show. Its just that over the years, every time she tells it, it changes a little. The way she tells it now is very different from the first time I heard her tell it back in the 70's. That's why some are starting to question it.
Not saying it is. Not really talking about the world today, merely that I saw that opening post and had to laugh at it. Especially the one on Admiral Cartwright being outed as a "villain" at the end of Trek VI (only one of many saboteurs btw) implies the franchise is racist, simply because he's portrayed by an actor who happens to be African-American
So it's just coincidence or just natural biological superiority that 4 out of 5 of the Commanders in Star Trek were Caucasians?
You really can't separate race from Trek given how paramount a subject it is in America and Trek is very much a cultural artifact of America. If there was honest color blindness in Star Trek, there wouldn't be four white guys as Captains in the first place!
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Way back in The Original Series episode "Court Martial", Commodore Stone appears as a human of African descent who outranks Kirk.
There has certainly been a legacy in television in general to usually feature white actors in more prominent, commanding roles than non-white actors. I especially liked 30 Rock's commentary on that in their live episode. Star Trek is not innocent of playing into that trend.
But when you start calling it racist every time a white character gets a promotion or a black character possesses any kind of character flaw, you hard a hard time maintaining credibility. Not every casting decision is a political statement. Race shouldn't be considered in either direction with casting decisions.
And I have a hard time seeing Geordi as a negative stereotype. He's no more subservient in his role than O'Brien in the same position in DS9 but you would never say O'Brien portrays Irishmen as subservient people. Geordi is shown as an extremely competent technical nerd lacking in social skills. If a white character were shown with the exact same personality he would just be seen as a run of the mill nerd.
But when you start calling it racist every time a white character gets a promotion or a black character possesses any kind of character flaw, you hard a hard time maintaining credibility. Not every casting decision is a political statement. Race shouldn't be considered in either direction with casting decisions.
And I have a hard time seeing Geordi as a negative stereotype. He's no more subservient in his role than O'Brien in the same position in DS9 but you would never say O'Brien portrays Irishmen as subservient people. Geordi is shown as an extremely competent technical nerd lacking in social skills. If a white character were shown with the exact same personality he would just be seen as a run of the mill nerd.
What it the person who was wearing the Redshirt was black, female or Asian? Was does that mean?
It's racist symbolism for how all non-Whites are no more than canon fodder.
What it the person who was wearing the Redshirt was black, female or Asian? Was does that mean?
It's racist symbolism for how all non-Whites are no more than canon fodder.
Well that's a nice neat circle of crazy.
What it the person who was wearing the Redshirt was black, female or Asian? Was does that mean?
It's racist symbolism for how all non-Whites are no more than canon fodder.
Well that's a nice neat circle of crazy.
Crazy is better in circles. That way it stays in one spot.
STOP THE MADNESS!!!
Crying racist these days in many circumstances is akin to the boy who cried wolf; it is just not the case. Consider the time in which TOS was made; racist, hardly. Race is an important issue but when it is used every time someone farts; it loses all relevance and the argument becomes a joke . . . like this thread.
Crying racist these days in many circumstances is akin to the boy who cried wolf; it is just not the case. Consider the time in which TOS was made; racist, hardly. Race is an important issue but when it is used every time someone farts; it loses all relevance and the argument becomes a joke . . . like this thread.
too long took a fart joke to appear, yes.
By the time of TNG it would appear that Starfleet vessels number in the thousands, along with hundreds of starbases and no doubt other facilities. So just because we may not always see them doesn't mean they don't exist. It's just like saying that 4 of the 5 Captain's are from the USA, what about the other 200 nations or so on Earth, or the 150 or so other races in the Federation.
At the end of the day it's a TV programme, make believe, fantasy etc.. If they cast a show with a majoirty of other ethniticty other than white I would still watch it so long as I was being entertained. If I don't find a show entertaining, I'll find another one that does entertain me.
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The only people who are taking any of this seriously are the one who missed the fact that the original post is satire.
Your explanation sounds fine. Thanks for the summary.
Well honestly if that's the case; it was done in very poor taste.
I was at a small convention in Sacramento in the early 90s, Michael Dorn and DeForest Kelley were the only big names. Dorn told a story about Patrick Stewart. When they first started the series, Patrick would talk about his 15 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Each time Patrick would mention it as the series went on, his tenure with the RSC somehow expanded, up to 25 years with them.
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