20 Most Cringeworthy Classic Star Trek Moments

9. Starfleet's Racist Report On Talos IV From The Menagerie (1966)

And what is it with Starfleet and Vulcans, anyway? Sure, we know from the series Enterprise that relations between Earth and the Vulcans were not always warm and cordial - anything but, in fact. But even by Kirk's time, the enmity that Starfleet feels towards one of the founding member races of the Federation runs so deeply that they can't keep their racism out of their official reports. The image above is the actual text of the Starfleet report on Talos IV, the planet visited in The Cage and then revisited for the two-parter The Menagerie. It's doubtful this was ever meant to be looked at in such detail onscreen in 1966, apart from the all-caps statement that NO ONE WILL EVER VISIT TALOS IV. But what's really interesting (and mortifying) is that Spock is referred to as 'Half-Vulcan Science Officer Spock' - twice. As if 'Half-Vulcan' were his rank. That's almost as offensive as finding out that Starfleet refers to Uhura in their paperwork as 'Mulato Communications Officer Uhura' or something, even if it were true. To be fair, though, they probably do refer to her as 'Constantly Singing Communications Officer Uhura,' for good reason...