In this episode:
This is an audio version of my essay, The Enterprise is not a White Space: why minority representation on Star Trek was so radical and risky in the 1960s.
Much of American society, including genre TV and film, has historically been cordoned off into white spaces, which is a term coined by Sociologist Elijah Anderson to describe spaces predominantly filled with white people and where Black people are treated as outsiders. In its earliest years, Star Trek showed its audience that it was not a white space, but a diverse and inclusive space.
To prove the point, my article is a deep dive into casting choices and the creative input of Black actors in Star Trek’s first season. There is more to the story than Uhura and Sulu, as important as those iconic roles are. People of color were chosen as background extras, small speaking roles, and guest stars. Using analysis and many images, my article celebrates unheralded roles like these:
They all made an impact since even the smallest role kept the Enterprise from being considered a white space. Every week of the 1966-67 television season except for one, you would have tuned in to see Black and brown people in uniform on board a starship.
Sections:
- Explanation of Anderson’s thesis on white and Black spaces; brief survey of Jim Crow laws that were being passed in the 1960s
- Background Extras
- Speaking Guest Roles
- Guest Stars
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