George Takei schools racist trolls vs. the new Star Trek TV series

Critics didn't like having women of color in command of a starship in the new TV series Star Trek: Discovery. Above, we have a new alien share the bridge with the starship's First Officer and Captain.

IT APPEARS that Trumpsters have invaded the Star Trek universe. It just goes to show that racism can take many forms and can pop up in every segment of society.

People who are uneasy about the growing diversity of the U.S. are also apoplectic that  Gene Roddenberry's famous franchise's return to television this fall will feature minorities in prominent roles as ranking officers in the Star Trek Discovery series.

The trolls were busy on the internet last weekend, calling the latest casting of women in color on the TV series as "white genocide in space."

These are the same people who unsuccessfully tried to launch a boycott of the movie, Star Wars: Rogue One, because no white males were playing the lead roles. The crew of Rogue One was a woman, a Latino and three Asians.

If they were truly fans of Star Trek, they would know that the cult classic has always been about diversity.

That's what George Takei said in response to trolls who didn't like the casting of Michelle Yeoh as a Starship captain and African/American Shonequa Martin-Green, as the First Officer.

“Well you know — today, in this society, we have alien life-forms that we call trolls,” Takei said to MSNBC host Joy Reid.

“And these trolls carry on without knowing what they’re talking about and knowing even less about the history of what they’re talking about. And some of these trolls go on to be presidents of nations.” said Takei, who played helmsman Hiraku Sulu in the original Starship Enterprise crew. Not only was Sulu Asian, but he was also gay!

As you might figure out, Takei, who is gay in real life, is not a fan of the current president and the bigots who believe that Donald Trump's election victory has given them free reign to be ... well, racist. If you have any doubt, Takei concluded his interview with this, "I think that Donald Trump is as foolish, as uninformed and as ignorant as these trolls are."

George Takei and Joy Reid sign off after their interview with the Vulcan signal of "Live long and prosper."

Takei went on to explain creator Gene Roddenberry's approach to the sci-fi story:

"We had a guiding acronym – IDIC – which stood for 'infinite diversity in infinite combinations.' And we boldly went where we hadn’t gone before because we were curious about what is out there. And when you go out into space you are going to have even greater diversity. Now these so-called trolls haven’t seen a single episode of the new series, because it hasn’t even aired…and they don’t know the history of Star Trek … Gene Roddenberry created this with the idea of finding strength in our diversity. And the delight of life in diversity. So they don’t know what they are talking about."

Roddenberry used Star Trek to address issues of the day, and diversity and racism is a theme that he repeatedly addressed.

One of the most famous episodes of the original Star Trek was "Let That Be Your Last Battlefied," featuring comedian Frank Gorshin.

In that episode, the USS Enterprise ends up in the middle of an old conflict when an alien fugitive requests political asylum from an officer who is perusing him. The two aliens from Charon are differentiated due to one being black on the left side and white on the right and the other being the opposite. While members of the enlightened 23rd century crew find this to be inconsequential, the aliens see it as reason enough to (as it turns out in the end) destroy their entire planet.

Nichelle Nichols, the African/American actress who played the communications officer Lt. Uhuru on the USS Enterprise, shared TV's first interracial kiss when she and Captain Kirk got into it. In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, she said:

“Gene’s whole vision was that minorities weren’t on set because we were minorities, we were on set because in the future our diverse world would all be working together as equals,” Nichols said. “I understand that everyone needs to see role models that can inspire them and talk to them and represent them, but I believe we need to move to a future that transcends race, gender, or anything else. We’re all people.”

If there is any doubt about the intentions of Star Trek creator, the late Gene Roddenberry, let's let him have the last word:

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Beam me up Scotty: It got better for Mr. Sulu

IT GOT BETTER for actor George Takei.

People may laugh to learn that I'm a die-hard fan of the TV show Star Trek, a pop culture icon that doesn't shy away from its science fiction roots. The genre is often looked down upon by the intelligentsia or literary snobs.  

While I can't claim to be a Trekker (Don't call me a Trekkie) I can't tell you how influential Star Trek has been in my life. There may be a book out there already written entitled "All I really need to know about life I learned from Star Trek." If there isn't, there should be. Hmmm?

When George Takei "came out" it was not surprising that the news didn't create such a fuss among  the many fans of Mr. Hikaru Sulu, chief helmsman of the original Enterprise crew. Besides the gadgetry, Star Trek was about diversity, tolerance, passion, compassion, logic and friendship. Also not surprising, most of the cast rallied around him with the notable exception of one starship captain.

With an interracial cast, the sci-fi series has always dealt with race either metaphorically or allegorically. It featured TV's first interracial kiss (Kirk and Uhuru) and a number of episodes dealt with inter-species prejudices and discrimination, just like we deal with race on Earth.

But, I digress.

Despite the daring themes Star Trek tackles, Sulu's role - and I dare say, Uhuru's role too, is just a cut above the red shirts, those unknown cast members who end up dying whenever the crew tackles dangerous missions. Their backstories don't get filled in years after the series ended in the books/novels/comics or follow up movies featuring the characters whose fans won't let them fade away. Only do the characters of Spock and Worf get rounded out.

In the five years since coming out, Takei's career has skyrocketed. To say he has been "busy" is an understatement.

Takei's role as mentor for Asian entertainers and elder statesman continues to grow. He is also cemented as a civil rights activist, not only for gays but for all people living on the Edge. His most recent project is a musical called "Allegiance" about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. The Broadway-bound production also includes Tony-award winner Lea Salonga in its cast.

In the meantime, catch the premier of the documentary "To be Takei" on DirectTV starting  July 3 through August.