What's the sitch?
Well-known member
I was watching some DS9 episodes that were replaying and came across the episode "Badda bing-Badda Bang". Apparently Sisko feels very strongly about taking part of a holodeck recreation of 1960 Las Vegas, because that area, at that time was racist to black people. (not sure if this is actually true(Las Vegas is not "the south"). Keep in mind DS9 takes place in 2369-2375. Apparently I am to believe that over 300 years from now, he still experiences or has heard of people experiencing racism to such a degree that he has a chip on his shoulder and feels the need to have this outburst about how a fictional holodeck deck recreation is offensive to black people and he can't just hang out with his friends in their holodeck shenanigans. His wife/girlfriend, Kasidy, tells him to calm down, because they are living in a utopian society and that they only limitations are what they give themselves.
I could have sworn there was another world war and various alien invasions at this point........ Did he just read about ancient racism and get stuck on it? The way some people that are 5+ generations removed at this point still do? Is he actually still personally affected by it in this post scarcity society? Was the counter point from Kasidy, actually the writers, telling black people(or any people looking to blame the far removed past) that the future is what they make of it?
There was even another episode where Sisko hallucinates being a black person in the 50s experience work related racism/discrimination. You can either take this is a "real world" episode teaching us a lesson and not have it as part of "cannon" but if it is a cannon episode then it means that he really experiences racism to such a degree that he imagines such things, that he really is that traumatized by evil, racist federation life.
I remember watching these episodes as a child and did not think too much on them at the time, but re watching them years later, especially in todays political climate got me thinking.
I could imagine there being some intra planetary/colony rivalries but actual human-human racism seems far fetched from what I have seen.
I could have sworn there was another world war and various alien invasions at this point........ Did he just read about ancient racism and get stuck on it? The way some people that are 5+ generations removed at this point still do? Is he actually still personally affected by it in this post scarcity society? Was the counter point from Kasidy, actually the writers, telling black people(or any people looking to blame the far removed past) that the future is what they make of it?
There was even another episode where Sisko hallucinates being a black person in the 50s experience work related racism/discrimination. You can either take this is a "real world" episode teaching us a lesson and not have it as part of "cannon" but if it is a cannon episode then it means that he really experiences racism to such a degree that he imagines such things, that he really is that traumatized by evil, racist federation life.
I remember watching these episodes as a child and did not think too much on them at the time, but re watching them years later, especially in todays political climate got me thinking.
I could imagine there being some intra planetary/colony rivalries but actual human-human racism seems far fetched from what I have seen.
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