First Interracial Kiss on National TV
In an episode of the short-lived but eventually very popular television show Star Trek, a kiss between William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols is believed to have been the first interracial kiss ever broadcast on national television. It occurred on an episode entitled “Plato’s Stepchildren,” Season 3, Episode 10.
Star Trek also has a place in civil liberties history because of the actor George Tekai, who played the character Hikaru Sulu. As a child during World War II, Takei and his parents were the victims of the evacuation and internment of the Japanese Americans (February 19, 1942). As an adult, Takei became a prominent public advocate for the rights of lesbian and gay people; he married his same-sex partner on September 14, 1978.
Learn about the historic kiss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KGE7HYEie0
Read: Lincoln Geraghty, Living with Star Trek: American Culture and the Star Trek Universe (2007)
Actress Nchelle Nichols discusses the kiss: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hKKkGhEDoU
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here