It may seem like a cop out to turn to Star Trek as a window to the future, and a mirror on our current struggles, but it has had such an impact over the years and continues to address social issues in a fantasy setting, even now, that it remains a relevant media resource for inspiring change. Star Trek “has been, and always shall be” about diversity from the very first episode. In the 1960s it was unusual to have a mixed race cast, let alone having a woman a part of the command crew, but Star Trek took that on right from the first episode.

Racism is an issue that comes up often in both the original series and current ones (does that tell you that we still have a problem with this?!).

In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, during a dinner between the Enterprise crew and a delegation from a Klingon vessel, one of the Enterprise crew comments about believing everyone has certain inalienable human rights…then is told off by a member of the Klingon delegation…“Human rights? The very name is racist.”

The most recent iteration of the franchise, Star Trek Discovery, hits heavy on the themes of racial purity, isolationism, racism, immigration and other contemporary issues, with the aim of prompting people to take a good, long look at the world. The series is mainly set around the war between the Federation and the Klingons, but an interesting take on how the war started has to make us wonder about our dealings with other cultures. What right do we have to interfere with another culture, and why do we think ours is always superior?