Even in idealistic settings like Star Trek, you still have divisions and unification based wholly on race. Even in the federation, one of the things people learn is how to deal with "different" races because some races are more aggressive than others or handle insults differently etc... No one tries to pretend differences between races don't exist.
Race seems to be one of those things we implicitly understand to be a cause of unification or division, yet if one considers this reality in our culture, you're immediately labelled a racist.
The conservative ideal of race neutrality, as in we can just pretend race is a social construct and treat everyone the same, is a denial of reality. The liberal ideal of all races being equal, as in any differences is due to racism, is also a denial of reality.
Can we not just accept that races exist, they are different and then adapt our society toward this?
Most Sci-fi universes understand the difference between race and values.
Star Trek Federation, zero interaction until values align, and limited interaction to maintain peace but Territories were kept separated.
Ender's Game Universe had something similar. The World Government was essentially Nationalist Countries that agreed to the Bill of Rights in order to gain the protection and trade/knowledge network.
Suburbs are often like this. They don't care about race, just want the neighborhood full of good people who also want a save environment to raise their kids.
Keep in mind though that typically, even if values align, there are still often differences between races that are recognized and accounted for. Rarely does any sci-fi setting try to pretend there are no differences between races even when there clearly are differences.
I dunno.... Most Sci-fi shows I've seen seemed to show how the different races were very different. Even when mixed together on the same ship there were differences in philosophies, outlooks, religion, diet... But they had the shared value of cohabitation. We don't have to be clones to be civil.
No one thinks perfect color blindness makes any sense, but treating human beings as individuals are a theme of the USA and of Science Fiction.
Even though you are a dirty stinking Centaurian, We can be best friends and defeat the evil whatever together....
But yes, like in Flash Gordon, no one ever made arguments like "I identify as someone with wings, you must admit that I fly."
Just re-watched Star Trek TNG and DS9 on a whim....it's basically way bigoted, racist, etc. They make judgements based on race/species all the time :) It's hilarous.
I am Rondon! You Bulgallian sludge rat!
My guess is when the Romulans show up we will all unite, because you know what happens when they come to town...
Isn't the backstory of the Romulans that they were once Vulcans but then split off? Who says all of Earth ever unites. We could have our own Romulans and Vulcans like Americans and Chinese.
Yep, probably something about whether shoulder pads were appropriate military dress :)
I don't see why the earth should unite, peacefully coexist is probably better don't you think?
Unite tends to create monsters like the EU.
So many problems would dissolve into nothing if we just kept the different nationalities in their different homelands instead of trying to intermix all the races and cultures and nationalities together all over, so everywhere is the same muddled slush as everywhere else. It’s so stupid.
Yes, it would solve a lot of problems but the profit of corporations might decrease.