Racism in Star Trek

[heslopian]

Yeah, the alien races may not correspond to specific human cultures, but they are relatable in the sense that they all tap into specific aspects of human nature and the human condition. Alien but familiar...

I think all stories, now matter how outlandish, have to do that, otherwise what would be the point in making them? That's why I don't buy the excuse which some writers use that they're clearly racist characters aren't meant to reflect certain cultures. Of course they are. If the characters aren't relatable, then audiences won't be interested.
Like how in some children's cartoons the villains all have brown faces. This is seemingly most prevalent in features about animals, such as Don Bluth's notorious flop The Pebble and the Penguin, the colour coding in which was commented on by American critic Roger Ebert, in this exract from his review of the film:

"If there is one constant in feature cartoons, it's that the evil characters have darker complexions than the heroic ones. At first, I thought maybe I was imagining this, until I realized there were no exceptions to the rule, no movies where the good guys were dark and the bad guys were light.

In "The Pebble and the Penguin," we have to start, I guess, with a definition of what constitutes a penguin's complexion. Most of their coat is black, but not their facial areas, except for around the nose. The rest of their facial coloring is white, in the case of Hubie and all of his friends. But when we meet the evil Drake, a villainous penguin, the corresponding areas on his face are chocolate brown. That goes for Drake's sidekicks.

What do kids learn from this? Nothing overt. Just a quiet, unstated impression: White is good and brave, and brown is scheming and negative. Reinforce that through lots of cartoons (examples: "Aladdin" and "The Rescuers Down Under") and no wonder even black children choose white dolls in some pyschological experiments.

Sociologists who wonder how children's values are formed might start by studying the animated films that kids like to look at on video over and over and over again, until they know them by heart - having learned all the lessons, even the unstated ones."