You want to know why people have loved Star Trek for over forty years?
Because in the 24th Century that Gene Roddenberry created, people have evolved past seeing each other as a color..
Oh, they still fight each other over who gets a bigger piece of the Federation pie and good and evil are both as evident then as today.
But when the Cardassians and the Borg and the Romulans and the Vulcans, et al, mix it up, you get the larceny without the labeling.
Put simply…
In the world of Star Trek, there is no such thing as racism.
People aren’t judged by their ethnic origin.
They might be greedy or loving or cruel or benevolent, kind or self serving.
But when a Klingon pisses somebody off, nobody has to be reminded not to use the “K” word.
Cause there is no “K” word.
Brave new world.
Something to look forward to.
Geraldine Ferraro, the 1984 Democratic candidate for VP is catching hell because she said, in an interview, that the only reason Barack Obama has gotten as far he has gotten is that he’s black.
“If he were a white man,” Ferraro said,” he would not be in the position he’s in today.”
The sound of her voice hadn’t completely disappeared before the word “racist” came flying out of every nook and cranny.
Imagine my surprise.
Beyond the obvious and inevitable debate about the wisdom of Ms. Ferraro’s public pronouncement of a private point of view (hey, who you callin alliterate?”), and, by the way, I couldn’t care less about participating in any such debate, I was just wondering…
Why is it racist to say that Barack Obama has gotten this far because of his color, but it’s not racist to observe that he won the Mississippi primary with only half of the white vote, but over 90% of the black vote?
For that matter, why is it racist to say that Barack Obama has gotten this far because of his color?
More to the point, why do we automatically assume that a comment like that is derogatory?
The world cheered when Jackie Robinson broke in the major leagues.
The world cheered when Shirley Chisholm was elected to Congress.
The world cheered when James Meredith walked into his first college class.
And why the cheering?
Breaking into the majors, being elected to Congress and walking into a college class were, by no means, extraordinary activities.
Oh, wait. That’s right.
The cheering was because these people were black.
And does pointing out that fact make me a racist?
Of course not.
And anyone who, for one second, believes that being black has not been a factor in the success that Barack Obama has seen in this presidential race, is likely of the opinion that the ratings for Deal Or No Deal would be just as high if Howie asked the cases to be opened by the cast of The Biggest Loser.
Just as it is with so many things, there is a fine line that, once crossed, truly makes one a racist.
But saying that someone has benefited from his or her color is no more racist than saying someone has benefited from their height or weight or beautiful eyes…you know, like the Deal Or No Deal girls (shu—yeahhh…right).
In my humble O, racism is prejudice of a negative and/or hateful nature.
And I’ll go you one better.
Racism has no color.
Because hate comes in all colors.
And so does success.
I don’t think pointing out the latter makes anybody a racist.
It would be nice if we didn’t have to wait until the 24th Century to finally get that through our collective heads.
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