Star Trek and the Multi-Racial Future

from The Occidental Observer, May 30, 2009

The multi-racial world of "Star Trek"

The new Star Trek movie, directed by J. J. Abrams, raises interesting questions about the future of multiculturalism. The film sends two strong messages:

1) Diversity is normal. As in the original television series, the cast of characters is a menagerie of distinct races and cultures: Kirk, a White man from rural Iowa; Scotty, a Scotsman with a heavy Scottish accent; Chekhov, a Russian with a heavy Russian accent; Sulu, an Asian; Uhura, a African-American; and Spock, a super-smart, green-blooded Vulcan. The producers of Star Trek assume that in the year 2248 (239 years in the future), people will still exhibit distinct racial, cultural, and linguistic traits. Non-Whites are depicted as no less competent and no less likely to hold positions of authority than White people, and diverse workforces on spaceships are highly functional.

2) Interracial relationships are normal. All of the sexual/romantic relationships depicted in the film are interracial except for one (Kirk’s father and mother). Kirk, apparently, is sexually attracted only to non-Whites and non-humans. Interracial relationships are depicted not only as common, but as unquestionably right. Spock, who has a Vulcan father and a human mother, reacts emotionally to nothing except criticism of his mixed parentage. In a poignant moment in the movie, Spock’s father teaches him that one’s choice of a mate should be based more on “love” than on “logic” — or genetic similarity, we can assume. Spock himself has a black romantic partner in the movie.

I wonder how many viewers perceive the incompatibility of these two messages. Star Trek’s fictional world is set 10 generations in the future. It’s a world where technology has eliminated geographical barriers, where people live and work in well-functioning, diverse environments, where interracial relationships are normal, and where any social controls against exogamy are considered morally wrong. In such a world, the races and cultures would have had plenty of time to blend together. . . . More