In the episode of Star Trek: The Original Series titled "Plato's Stepchildren," which is season 3, episode 10, first shown on November 22, 1968, Uhura (played by Black American actress Nichelle Nichols) and Captain Kirk (played by white actor William Shatner) share a kiss. This episode is often said to be the first interracial kiss on television, but this is not correct. It was, however, the first time a planned kiss between a Black person and a white person on U.S. television appeared in a scripted show. A different television show, Movin' with Nancy, had an earlier unscripted kiss between a Black and white person. The episode aired one year after the U.S. Supreme Court ended laws that banned interracial marriage nationwide.
Historical context
Identifying the first interracial kiss on television is a topic that people argue about. Historians say that interracial kisses between Black and white people were shown on British television during live plays as early as 1959, and later on soap operas like Emergency Ward 10. In the United States, Cuban actor Desi Arnaz and white actress Lucille Ball often kissed on the show I Love Lucy in the 1950s. Although Arnaz and Ball are sometimes called an "interracial couple," the term "Hispanic" does not clearly describe a race. Arnaz was a white man with Cuban ancestry.
The U.S. Census Bureau uses the term "Hispanic or Latino" to describe people from countries like Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, or other Spanish-speaking places, regardless of their race. The Census Bureau explains that people who identify as Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish may be any race.
In 1958, ten years before the Star Trek episode "Plato's Stepchildren," actor William Shatner shared an interracial kiss with France Nuyen, an actress of Asian ancestry, during a scene in the Broadway play The World of Suzie Wong, which was shown on The Ed Sullivan Show. Other shows, such as Adventures in Paradise and I Spy, included kisses between white male actors and Asian actresses. In 1967, Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Nancy Sinatra on the cheek during an episode of her televised special Movin' with Nancy.
On Star Trek, in the season one episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" (first aired in October 1966), a friendly kiss occurred between Uhura (played by Nichelle Nichols) and Christine Chapel (played by Majel Barrett). In the February 16, 1967 episode "Space Seed," Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban, who played the genetically engineered villain Khan Noonien Singh, kissed Madlyn Rhue. In the season two episode "Mirror, Mirror" (first aired on October 6, 1967), Kirk kissed Lieutenant Marlena Moreau, played by Barbara Luna, an actress of Filipino-European ancestry. In the same episode, Mirror-Sulu, played by Japanese-American actor George Takei, kissed Uhura's neck.
According to Syracuse University professor Robert Thompson, who studies television and popular culture, the kiss in "Plato's Stepchildren" is considered a milestone, even if it was not the first interracial kiss on television. The episode first aired on November 22, 1968, one year after the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, which made laws banning interracial marriage between Black and white people, white and Native American people, Filipinos, Asians, and other non-white groups unconstitutional. In 1968, only 3% of newlyweds were interracial couples. By 2015, this number had increased to 17%, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.
Production
In the 1968 episode "Plato's Stepchildren" from Star Trek, a kiss between characters is caused by psychokinesis, a type of mind power. William Shatner, who played Captain Kirk, wrote in Star Trek Memories that NBC wanted to avoid showing their lips touch. They used a method where the actors turned their heads away from the camera to hide this. In a 2024 interview with Bill Maher, Shatner repeated that NBC did not want their lips to touch, but the actors did anyway. Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura, wrote in her 1994 autobiography Beyond Uhura that the kiss was real, even in scenes where her head blocked the view of their lips. She also shared this story in several interviews.
When NBC learned about the kiss, they worried it might upset TV stations in the Deep South. Earlier in 1968, NBC had similar concerns about a moment in a Petula Clark special where she touched Harry Belafonte’s arm. This moment was wrongly called the first time a man and woman of different races touched on American TV. At one point, NBC suggested having Spock, who is half Vulcan, kiss Uhura instead. However, Shatner insisted on keeping the original plan. NBC then decided to film two versions of the scene: one with the kiss and one without.
Producers were worried about the kiss and planned to film it with the actors’ lips mostly hidden by Nichols’ head. They also intended to film a second version where the kiss happened off-screen. However, Nichols later wrote in her memoir Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories that she and Shatner intentionally made mistakes in their lines to ensure the original scene with the kiss was used.
Reception
According to Thompson, the kiss in the episode "Plato's Stepchildren" did not cause significant public or industry reactions. Thompson explained, "It did not receive the strong negative response some expected, nor did it lead to many more similar scenes in other shows. The shot heard around the world started the American Revolution. The kiss heard around the world eventually had an impact, but not right away."
There are no records of public complaints about the scene. Nichols noted that "Plato's Stepchildren," which aired on November 22, 1968, "received a large and mostly positive response. We got a lot of fan mail, much of it from viewers asking about the experience of the actors in the scene. Very few people found the kiss offensive," except for one letter from a white Southerner who wrote, "I am opposed to the mixing of races. However, any time a red-blooded American boy like Captain Kirk gets a beautiful woman in his arms who looks like Uhura, he won't fight it." Nichols said she considered this episode the most memorable from the show's final season.
In 2010, Nichols said the episode became iconic because it deeply influenced viewers. She stated, "People often discuss the first interracial kiss and how it changed their views of the world and others." Eric Deggans, a television critic, noted the kiss "suggested a future where race-related issues were less important. The characters did not react negatively to a Black woman kissing a white man. In this future-like setting, these problems were solved. That was a positive message to share."
In 2016, TVLine listed the kiss as one of the top 20 moments in Star Trek. Radio Times ranked it as the 25th best moment in all Star Trek episodes, including later series. National Geographic and WhatCulture also recognized the kiss's cultural impact in 2016, with WhatCulture placing it as the 8th best romantic-sexual moment in Star Trek.