9. The First Inter-Racial Kiss
On November 22 1968, months following the brutal and tragic assassination of Dr King, Star Trek aired "Plato's Stepchildren.' In this now famous episode, Uhura and Kirk are forced to kiss due to a telepathic race. This was the first scripted moment on American TV where an African American woman kissed a White man. While we may see this as a minor piece of history, it remains significant when it is considered that Anti-Miscegenation laws, banning interracial marriages, had been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court only one year before, and that Alabama did not fully repeal their laws until 2001. Again, it is beyond evident that Star Trek was instrumental to changing cultural perceptions, allowing the legal shift to be socially recognized; on an interesting side-note William Shatner, every-ones favourite over-actor, crossed his eyes on shot which could have replaced the kiss scene, facilitating the kiss and making cultural history.