The Expanse: Racism replaced with Planetism ...
“The official Martian reports have been very conservative,” the science officer said. His name was Chan Bao-Zhi, and on Earth, he’d have been Chinese. Here, he was a Belter from Pallas Station.
- Abaddon’s Gate, The Expanse, James S.A. Corey
I've written a lot about diversity and representation in the world of The Expanse and that theme continues. I’ve been re-reading the series and just finished re-reading Abaddon’s Gate yesterday. The quote above caught my eye because it reinforces that in the world of the Expanse, people no longer discriminate against one another on the basis of race or state lines, it’s now about whether you’re an Earther, a Martian or a Belter.
The new ‘racist’ terms are Dusters for Martians and Skinnies for the Belters. Sexism and discrimination on the basis of sexual preference seem to have become things of the past but prejudice still very much exists in this universe. I guess the reason I enjoy the series so much is that the discrimination that I see on a day to day basis in our world, doesn't exist anymore and there's something really refreshing and interesting about having so many people from non-white backgrounds in the cast but ethnicity isn't brought into it at all. There are just a lot of people with mixed names that are clearly meant to denote that they come from a non-Anglo Saxon background ... we see gay couples in relationships that are entirely normalised and not seen as unusual at all.
I've seen this before for sure. Most science fiction shows use human vs alien as metaphors for racism. Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate Atlantis, Defiance ... but many of those shows tackled the issue of discrimination while at the same time still reinforcing the Great White Saviour trope ... so I do rather like seeing the almost effortless diversity that the Expanse manages to have.