Racism in Star Trek

[heslopian]

but I think he raises some interesting points, such as the show's definition of "species." If a human can breed with a klingon, then why are they considered so different?

i take it their ugliness doesn't count then. most of the bipedal races can interbreed with humans (aren't we lucky bastards) but as far as different species go, many have completely sociological differences, some greater than any genetic divide could be. which separates them from us.

imagine asking a klingon woman to do the shopping, she'd cut your balls off.
have you see the courting ritual they go through as well. it's fuckin vicious.

we also have to ask this, be cause we can interbreed with a race does it make it the same race. from what i can make out. worlds were populated. they all evolved to a state where physically and sociologically they were different in race, we (the humans) were just lucky that the sex gene is a constant throughout the universe for us

But are sociological/physical differences really that important? Black people are better runners on account of their Achilles' tendons, but we don't (or at least shouldn't) see them as somehow "other." Would all Klingon women emasculate you if you asked them to do the shopping? On a similar note, would all black women respond with a finger snap and an "mmhmmmm!" noise if you made an observation?
(Can't believe I'm actually standing up for what I've now designated the Klingon Civil Rights Movement...)
Also, species is different from race. I'm a different race to black people, but I'm not a different species.