I just finished watching DS9 Season 7 Episode 14 ‘Chimera’
The episode is one where Odo, the only Changeling in the Federation happens to meet another lost Changeling which sets off a series of conversations of what it means to be different in a society that is not like yourself. I immediately understood all the conversations, ideas, perceptions and perspectives as I watched this episode … because I’ve always felt this way. And even after many years, I still feel this way.
I’m Indigenous Canadian and I grew up and was born and raised in a very different world from the rest of Canada. I had my own language, my own culture, my own traditions, my own way of doing things and my own sense of strange humour and identity. I moved away from home about 20 years ago as an adult to live out my life doing something else in order to make a living and ever since then, I’ve always felt like an outsider everywhere … I’ve never fit in and I always felt different. Many people were kind, helped me and did things for me but I always knew I could never properly fit into what is considered by most Canadians as a normalized white Caucasian man. It’s also weird to call myself a Native because most people I meet, especially internationally outside of Canada … seldom believe that I am Indigenous Canadian. Native Canadians are thought of as some sort of strange fairy tale that don’t exist any more. I’ve been called Filipino, Chinese, Japanese, Peruvian, Asian or the best one was being thought of as an overweight Thai person. And after spending 20 years in the non-Native world, I talk like a white man, walk like a white man, think like a white man … but I am not a white man.
This whole DS9 episode really struck me because it talked about all those feelings of being completely different from everyone else. That difference upsets me … and it upsets me even more knowing that since I am different, everyone sees me as different and more often than not see me as unusual and probably a threat. Which is why the following dialogue from Laas really struck me:
"But even when you make yourself in their image, they know you are not truly one of them. They know that what you appear to be does not reflect what you really are. It’s only a mask. What lies underneath is alien to them, and so they fear it. And that fear can turn to hate in the blink of an eye. "
There are a lot of good people in the world … and I’ve met many of them online in this digital community and here at c/tenforward. But it always disturbs me that when worse come to worse and people are under strain and stress … any amount of fear because people are different can turn to hate. Not just for a brown long haired Native guy but for any of us that have any perceived difference from the supposed ‘norm’ of society.
This episode of DS9 was just a striking reminder to me of that reality. But it also gives me hope that it is shows and writing like this that remind us of that reality and prevents us from falling into those fearful, ignorant states of mind.
I always felt like an outsider too but not because of any special race or identity. Its just normal today to not fit in with the normies, if you have any kind of special interests at all.
But ive had friends at work sharing my sense of humor and way of thinking. It has nothing to do with race for me. Its just that some people naturally just like me and I like them.
I’m of the opinion that feeling like an outsider is the norm in our society. Isolation and alienation is the daily experience for countless people.
I think a very large part of the problem comes down to urban planning and the disastrous way we’ve legislated it. We no longer live in villages and so we don’t really talk to each other anymore. We’ve used the law as a weapon to make villages illegal to build in our cities. And for what? So we can drive cars everywhere and park in these vast asphalt wastelands we call parking lots.
Thank you for this very helpful reminder.
I am seeing this more and more lately. Somehow I missed the connection (too much becoming overwhelming I suppose), but the state of my world right now means that even simple misunderstandings will get blown way up and turn into bigger issues, not on their own but bc when people are afraid, they lash out (oftentimes in ways harmful, to themselves or others).
If I don’t want to carry all the weight of the world on my back, then it would be best for me to forgive and simply move on - not bc someone may deserve it but bc I do.:-)
There are a lot of good people in the world … and I’ve met many of them online in this digital community and here at c/tenforward. But it always disturbs me that when worse come to worse and people are under strain and stress … any amount of fear because people are different can turn to hate. Not just for a brown long haired Native guy but for any of us that have any perceived difference from the supposed ‘norm’ of society.
In the past year in the U.S. they have had a politician tell an indigenous person to go back where she came from and ICE detaining Navajo as if they were in the U.S. illegally.
They aren’t part of the “norm” of society, so apparently they no longer belong in America. They may have been here first, but, like you said, they will never truly be considered Americans by way too many people. And way too many Americans think, “we respect them now,” and then go off to do the Tomahawk Chop while watching an Atlanta Braves game.
Your experience parallels quite well with the neurodiverse community too, so whilst I do not have the lived experience of your situation, I can empathise with the general feeling of not belonging. I guess this is why Star Trek episodes like this and other franchises (e.g. X-Men) that deal with fictional minorites work so well across so many real-world minorities and “out groups”. They also provide a useful talking point to introduce the majority to the perspective of a minority.
I like to think that fans of shows like Star Trek are typically more aware of the diversity in humanity and more understanding of these differences.
My daughter is autistic, gay, ethnically Jewish and an atheist. She also dares to wear things like (faux-)leather jackets and spiked collars.
Living in Indiana basically made her an alien from another galaxy as far as her peers were concerned, to the point that she was bullied out of school and we had to put her in online school. And you can imagine what people in what has been called “The Middle Finger of the South” treat aliens from another galaxy like. It’s not exactly Carbon Creek in Terre Haute.
She has found more friends in the three weeks we’ve been in Britain than she ever had at one time back in Indiana. She’s actually willing to go out and meet people here because she discovered very quickly that those things were not things people were judging her on.
I am sorry to hear that your daughter was treated like that, but am glad you have found a more welcoming community. Unfortunately there are parts of Australia that are just as unkind to anyone who is different, particularly some of the regional areas that aren’t used to any forms of diversity.
I’m sure there are parts of the UK like that too. I hope we don’t end up settling in one of them. Scotland, however, is supposed to be one of the most queer-friendly countries in Europe.
This gif, while taken out of context, shows how simple that connection of humanity (or general sentient comradery for the sake of Trek) can readily be: A vaguely disparate melting pot of people/ideas that would generally prefer to get along.
Start pointing out differences… or worse, weaponize them, and we find ourselves making enemies of our friends and neighbors. Then history begins to rhyme again in ways we’d rather it did not.
