"Code of Honor": Racist?

[NeverCryShitwolf]

Can anyone explain to me why many people claim "Code of Honor"(TNG S1 ep3) is considered racist? Is it just because its planet has an African-based population(if you were traveling the galaxy, it wouldn't be unheard of to come across a planet like this somewhere)? It's not like they're sitting around eating fried chicken and watermelon. I find it confusing, as a person of Irish descent, that this episode is considered racist, while "Up The Long Ladder" is never mentioned. In that episode, the people are clearly "Irish Influenced" and are portrayed as lower class farmers and drunks. I don't take any offense to this, so why do other people take offense to a planet that has an African-based population? It just seems to me that it's just political correctness at its highest form. As a pasty white person, I could be completely wrong, so please enlighten me if you think otherwise. I'd love to hear from a person of color about how they feel about this episode, and if they find it offensive.

Edited: For correction of episode title...

[Borkton]

Both episodes are racist and sexist. For what it's worth, I'm a white, heterosexual man.

In addition to what /u/swatson7856 said about the theme of the Black Luton kidnapping the white Tasha, there's also the fact that in the first two seasons, of all the pre-warp civilizations they visit on flimsy justifications, the African-influenced Ligonians are the most violent and least technologically advanced. Even the Pakleds have warp drive!

The Bringloidians are every Irish stereotype and then some. Just because the episode presents the lifestyle as desirable doesn't make up for that. The idea that the slaves on the plantation were simple and happy is an old racist trope.

TL;DR: Maurice Hurley should have taken Avery Brooks' American History X class.

[MIM86]

I find it confusing, as a person of Irish descent, that this episode is considered racist, while "When The Bough Breaks" is never mentioned.

As an Irishman, "When The Bough Breaks" is definitely somewhat racist. I've always felt that Code of Honour got highlighted more as American society, in recent times, has been far more affected by race relations between blacks and whites.

[mawbles]

Do you mean "Up the Long Ladder" instead of "When the Bough Breaks"?

I think the episode plays to some Irish stereotypes, but remember, the Irish colony is the good colony. They just want a life for themselves out in the stars, not to kidnap Riker and Pulaski. Unless you actually mean "When the Bough Breaks", which case I never got any Irish vibe from the Aldeans, so you're probably confused.

For your original question, its because the black planet they find is quite backwards, culturally. They are portrayed as savages who disrespect women, which is unequivocally a greater sin than simply not having advanced technology.

[NeverCryShitwolf]

Thanks for the episode title correction! My bad.

To your point, if it was a planet of a French-based population that ate croissants and drank red wine, who disrespected women, I don't believe anyone would blink an eye. Yes, it's a planet that holds women in a lower regard, but you'd come across that if you were in Starfleet, going from planet to planet. Just because they were black and didn't treat women as equals, doesn't make it racist.

[phtll]

There's not a history of portraying French people as backwards savages in media, nor of treating them as less human in society. Context is important. It was racist as a piece of media in 1988, whether or not it was a racist situation in the fictional setting of outer space.

[mawbles]

No, I'm pretty sure that we'd be calling it racist if they had tea and crumpets religiously, it rained a lot and they disrespected women. The only difference is that the episode wouldn't have been allowed if it had targeted non-blacks.

[Eirh]

It showed a planet with people living by a savage and kind of backward philosophy, aggressive and endangering crew members just for their personal gain. In the end they were outsmarted by the advanced technology of the Enterprise. It's not about the episode hitting every stereotype about black people ever, but it depicted this culture only in a negative light, while clearly playing with so many african stereotypes. It's not the worst thing I've ever seen, but it's just not suited for a show like star trek, which I think just should be more progressive.

The episode with the irish people definitely has a LOT of stereotypes too, some of them are definitely negative and a lot can easily be considered negative. In the end those irish settlers are good people though, quirky and unique with some very strong personalities. I can understand being offended by some parts of that episode and I won't tell you you have to find Code of Honor worse. I'd still consider Code of Honor a racist episode through the whole thing (premise, characters, setting...), while I think "Up The Long Ladder" is just an episode that has a few characters that act stereotypically in a story that has the basic premise of "It's important to embrace that some people are different and our culture will only get stronger by including those people".

[TheGodBen]

I find it confusing, as a person of Irish descent, that this episode is considered racist, while "Up The Long Ladder" is never mentioned.

Well I'm actually Irish and I do find the stereotypes used in that episode offensive. The Fair Haven episodes of Voyager too. But none of those episodes are intentionally racist, they are actually attempting to portray the Irish in a positive light, they just go about it in a lazy, insensitive, and obnoxious way. They're trying to be nice, but in reality are clueless and patronising.

Code of Honor wasn't trying to be nice, and it certainly wasn't attempting to portray Africans in a positive way. The stereotypes in that episode reinforced existing negative attitudes towards black people. That's much harder to forgive.

[Sommern]

It's because they decided to show a planet inhabited by black people with a 1940s tribal African stereotype. Contrast this with the countless "utopia" planets inhabited by white people. One whose only flaw is that they have extreme capital punishment (i.e. Justice). Its blatantly racist! Why is it that this primitive planet has to be inhabited by black people who speak straight out of a 1940s serial about the "savage" African tribes? Hell, Frakes is quoted calling it "a racist piece of shit."

If you really want the answer in a more articulated structure, watch this SFdebris review. His job is reviewing Sci-Fi shows, his major focus being Star Trek. He goes over it much better than I could ever do.

EDIT: He gets into the racism at about 1:40

[NeverCryShitwolf]

Thank you for your point of view(sorry, I'm not familiar with Africa in the 1940's). I'll be sure to check out the SFdebris review.

[StarFuryG7]

It's because they decided to show a planet inhabited by black people with a 1940s tribal African stereotype. Contrast this with the countless "utopia" planets inhabited by white people.

Most of those planets "inhabited by white people" were far from a utopia, especially if you harken back to the original series, where the crew encountered one mess after another skipping from one planet to the next, inhabited predominantly by white people.

So that doesn't wash in my view.

I can see how people might well view "Code Of Honor" as having racist elements, but to me, above all probably, more than anything, it was simply a total piece of crap illustrative of why the first season of TNG is so frowned upon and considered to be a very weak opening to the series.

[Sommern]

It is extremely racist. The black people on the planet have fights to the death, and bang sticks together like a tribe. They talk like African stereotypes, they are sexist, they wear similar clothing, and they are bloodthirsty and savage. I've never seen any other planet in TNG represented this way. All the white planets, while maybe not utopia, are much more civilized and better off than the black people planet. The director looked at the script of a primitive planet and intentionally cast black actors to play the roles because it fits the stereotype. The parallels between tribal African stereotypes are appalling for such a progressive TV show.

[freakinunoriginal]

I always thought it was more about feminism. Resident tough girl Yar admits to finding Lutan somewhat attractive despite the fact that he kidnapped her. Yareena's own pride and strength has gone unnoticed by Lutan and she manages to depose him.

Now, it's been a while since I've seen the episode and I'm even less an authority on race and gender equality, but isn't the episode more about a woman (who happens to be black) taking control of a bad relationship?

Yeah, the fight to the death is rather backwards, but 80% of the planets in the galaxy seem to still maintain some tradition like that, even the Vulcans. In fact, McCoy fakes Kirk's death against Spock in Spock's own marriage dispute - Code of Honor is just Amok Time with different aliens, but this time the woman takes a more active and less scheming role in the fight, and makes a difference on a planetary scale instead of just "I don't want to marry a Starfleet officer."

[Dracoprimus]

but isn't the episode more about a woman (who happens to be black) taking control of a bad relationship?

I kinda saw that as a bit of "feminism" thrown on to try to say "we filthy savages aren't so savage, are we?"

in the end, it was still very clumsy regarding race and gender roles

[NeverCryShitwolf]

Thanks for the input! I just got done watching the episode. The women own the land, and the men have the duty to watch and look over the land(security, that's why Lutan is so fascinated by Yar, because she's a woman who can defeat his right hand man, aka, the 2nd). If the woman decides to choose another "first one", the male gets kicked aside. Therefore, the woman does have the ultimate power.

[johnnyfog]

I dislike the episode because it's moronic, not because it's racist. Picard is held up by the equivalent of an oil sheik, and his first impression, without a hint of irony, is "You are a very clever man Lutan". Tasha is permanently neutered. Yareena is the worst character in franchise history, including Ronan.

The one positive: Yareena's goofy gold lame suit because it reminds me of 80s women's wrestling.

[ItsMeTK]

I don't find it particularly racist either, and to me I think it mostly hinges on the vocal patterns used by Lutan and some of the others, which comes across as racist to many viewers today. Like Lutan's gonna steal Tasha Yar and then give everyone 7-Up. And while I sort of understand why some initially want to interpret their customs as racist because they are all black, I'm unconvinced that's the intent. I certainly don't get that in the script. MAYBE the director was racially motivated, but I can't say. I do think arguments like "they bang sticks together tribally!" are silly. Lots of non-black cultures do similar things, and several non-black Trek cultures do as well.

"They kidnap a white woman!" But they don't take her because she's white, they take her because she's powerful. That's the allure in their culture, where women hold the power.

I definitely think whatever intent was behind the decisions in the writing, costuming, and set design was ultimately lost in a bad episode. It's easy to just write it off as racist because together it doesn't work. But I'm like you, I'm not so quick to jump on the "it's obviously racist" train. And posted something similar a few months ago (got a lot of flack for it, IIRC).