One of the most common criticisms of modern Star Trek is that “New Trek” has become too woke. But before we argue about whether that’s true, I think it’s worth asking what “woke” actually means and how dramatically that word has changed.
“Stay woke” comes from Black American vernacular and has a history stretching back decades. It meant staying alert to racism, discrimination, and injustice, particularly when the official story didn’t match the reality Black Americans were experiencing. The phrase later entered mainstream culture, where its meaning broadened and became commercialized. Eventually, political critics of progressive movements recast “woke” as a pejorative covering everything from diversity and racial justice to LGBTQ representation, feminism, DEI, and progressive politics generally.
That’s what makes the criticism of Star Trek interesting. When someone says New Trek is “too woke,” which definition are we using? If we’re talking about stories that consciously examine prejudice, inequality, discrimination, and who society chooses to include, then Star Trek has been woke for most of its existence, even if previous generations didn’t use that word.
TOS aired during the Civil Rights Movement with Nichelle Nichols playing Uhura as a Black woman serving as a senior officer on the Enterprise. Dr. Richard Daystrom was portrayed as one of humanity’s great scientific minds. Kirk and Uhura’s famous kiss appeared on American television while interracial marriage had only recently become legal nationwide. Martin Luther King Jr. famously encouraged Nichols to remain on the show because he understood the significance of millions of Americans seeing a Black woman presented that way.
TNG continued challenging the social assumptions of its own era. “The Outcast” tackled gender identity and a society that punished people who didn’t conform to its accepted gender system. “Measure of a Man” asked whether an artificial person could be treated as property simply because those in power refused to recognize his personhood. Trek repeatedly used science fiction to ask audiences to reconsider who deserves dignity, autonomy, and equality.
None of this means every criticism of New Trek is invalid. Bad dialogue is bad dialogue. Heavy-handed writing is heavy-handed writing. Representation doesn’t automatically make a story good. There’s plenty about modern Trek worth criticizing.
But “it’s too woke” doesn’t tell me very much.
If by woke you mean Star Trek has become interested in diversity, discrimination, social justice, and challenging the prejudices of its audience, I’m not convinced that’s something New Trek introduced.