Today we get a lesson on the fatal futility of the race issue. Two beings from an unexplored planet, one has been chasing the other for about 50,000 Earth years (because beings from other planets always have extreme timelines). They are both half black and half white, just on different sides. Now, follow me on this:
- their skin pigment is split halfway down their bodies (Spock says there’s no history of this in any other species, but that’s just because ’60s science had no idea that chimerism was a thing like we know it to be now);
- the chaser is black on the right side while the runner is black on the leftside with the chaser believing being black on the right side to make you superior and the runner fighting for equal rights; and,
- the show decided to exacerbate the idiocy of the issue by putting these guys into shiny, identical jumpsuits.
One can only assume there are no mirrors on their planet. If there were this would not be an issue, which is why as interesting as the premise is it is ultimately stupid.
See, if your face were black on the right and white on the left, then — looking in a mirror — you would come face-to-face with someone who is black on the left and white on the right. Seeing such a face every day when you’re brushing your teeth and combing your hair and just generally getting ready for the day’s whatever would make you very accustomed to seeing such a face. Seeing people look like your reflection and thinking them inferior isn’t likely to happen unless you as an individual are projecting some serious self-hatred.
Racism is stupid. How it is presented in fiction shouldn’t be.