Sometimes people, especially artists, even unwittingly or unconsciously become symbols. When Nichelle Nichols, an African-American actress who died last Sunday, told Martin Luther King Jr. that he wasn’t going to continue working on the second Star Trek series, he got serious and told her, “You can’t do that.” It was you who forever changed the face of television and thereby changed people’s minds.”

They met at a civil rights rally in 1967, a year after the original Star Trek was released. There, Nichols played Lieutenant Nyota Ohura, a communications officer on the famous aircraft carrier Enterprise. In fact, it was the first major, “equal” role with whites, given to a black actress in the history of American television. In fact, one episode of the series took things a step further, with Ohura Nichols and William Shatner’s Captain Kirk sharing their first interracial kiss on the lips, another mini-milestone for the small screen.

All this, of course, did not happen by itself. The show’s visionary creator Gene Roddenberry insisted that the Enterprise crew be not only white, but also African-American and Asian, predicting that in the 23rd century where the show takes place, multiculturalism and inclusiveness would be perfectly acceptable. And, of course, he did. To stay in Hollywood, and despite any controversy, the rules that have been imposed in recent years have led to a much more multicultural cast of movies and TV shows compared to the not-so-distant past.

It was the first major, “equal” role with whites, given to a black actress in the history of American television.

However, there are those who react to such events, at least when they touch established pop culture icons and traditions. In the upcoming Game of Thrones spin-off series House of the Dragon, African-British Steve Tusheid, with blond dreadlocks, plays Lord Corliss Velaryon. In George R. R. Martin’s books, there is no mention or hint that this particular character is black, which caused some backlash from fans of the series. On the other hand, the author of the “Game of Thrones” himself is among the creators of the new series, so the conversation, perhaps, ends here.

Even more intense, however, is the dialogue that has opened up about the trailers for The Ring of Power, the series that will take us back to the Lord of the Rings universe in early September. Black elves, and especially Puerto Rican Ismael Cruz Córdoba’s Arondir, are drawing the ire of outraged fans who claim that Tolkien’s beloved world is being twisted in the name of political correctness.

Trying to see things from a distance, he realizes that it has been a long time since Lieutenant Ohura defied stereotypes on the Enterprise’s bridge. Much has changed in the presentation of non-white characters, but this is often more superficial than essential. For a studio or streaming platform, for example, funding a program with a truly multicultural identity is probably far more important than the near-accidental inclusion of actors solely on the basis of their skin color.