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On November 22, 1968, television experienced the first interracial kiss in Star Trek episode: “Plato’s Stepchildren”. This kiss was during a time in United States history where racism was very prominent. This is 4 years after the after the official abolishment of the Jim Crow laws by President Johnson’s Civil Rights Act of 1964. Therefore, it was quite the surprise when the liberal science fiction show, Star Trek, had Captain Kirk kiss Uhura on television.
What happened?
According to Ronald Fryer, this act sparked acceptance towards interracial relations so much so that the percentage of black and white couples are now widely accepted by society. As for the actors of the show, Natalie Haynes explains that may fans of the show send positive fan mail about the kiss. This was a big step after the 1967 Supreme Court case, Loving versus Virginia. In this court case, all of the laws restricting interracial relationships were banned (they even made a movie about it!). The kiss definitely contributed to the increase in acceptance for
interracial relationships.
(Loving movie trailer)
Significance
This is the first time in a popular television show where an African-American and a white person had roles where romance was involved between them and this is very significant because this was during the civil rights movement and it shows its effects starting to take place. Interracial marriages were considered a sin and this would lead to the Loving vs. Virginia case where the court case was about interracial marriages. This scene in Star Trek would influence television shows that would come after and it would lead to blacks getting recognized in society moreover than when the civil rights act took place because while that was politically, this scene was move to socially integrating African-Americans into society.
Public Reactions
The show Star Trek was known for breaking the taboos and it definitely did that with the influential first ever interracial kiss on television. The episode was intended to have 2 different outcomes. One was where they actually kiss and the other was supposed to be a mere embrace, as not to anger the Southern viewers. However, they scene they shot with just the embrace became useless or corrupted and couldn’t be used. So they edited it in such a way that the viewers don’t see them kiss, but if was inferred in the end they received a lot of support but also a lot of hate, so there was mixed reviews.
Personal Experience
Discrimination against interracial couples have come a long way. It used to be that these types of couples were frowned upon, but over time that has changed. In fact my parents are an interracial couple and to this day when growing up I have never experienced any discrimination against me because of my parents’ races.
Conclusion
The interracial beliefs of 1968 can be contrasted to the norms of our current day and age. For example, in the famous show The Walking Dead, Michonne and Rick are in a relationship. Furthermore, this isn’t the only piece of evidence in which interracial couples are involved. In fact, many have come to accept that black people having relationships with white men or women is the norm. These relationships have increased by over 10% since 1968. This shows how interracial beliefs have changed since 1968.
How do interracial relationships differ from back in the 1960s and 70s?
Works Cited
-Buck, Stephanie. “Star Trek Interracial Kiss the Deep South Almost Never Saw.” Timeline,
Timeline, 22 July 2016, timeline.com/star-trek-interracial-kiss-ba0948687788.
-Cripps, Thomas. “Paul Robeson and Black Identity in American Movies.” The Massachusetts
Review, vol. 11, no. 3, 1970, pp. 468–485. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25088007.
-Fryer, Roland G. Guess Who’s Been Coming to Dinner? Trends in Interracial Marriage over the
20th Century. The Journal of Economic Perspectives.
-Geraghty, Lincoln. Living with Star Trek American Culture and the Star Trek Universe. I.B.
Tauris, 2007.
-Haynes, Natalie. “Culture - Star Trek and the Kiss That Changed TV.” BBC News, BBC, 7 July
2016, www.bbc.com/culture/story/
-History.com Staff. “Loving V. Virginia.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2017,
www.history.com/topics/loving-v-virginia.