William Shatner, celebrated actor known for his iconic role as Captain James T. Kirk in “Star Trek,” has voiced strong concerns regarding what he describes as the erasure of historical context and alterations to literary works.
In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Shatner lamented the trend of “Presentism,” referencing past events such as the aftermath of George Floyd’s death in 2020, when monuments were removed and names changed under the guise of demonstrating progress.
“It’s called Presentism and it was used to wreak havoc on history several years ago when statues were torn down, books were banned and things renamed to prove how progressive the world had become,” Shatner stated.
Shatner also expressed frustration over changes made to his own “Star Trek” legacy. Initially reporting that Paramount+ had altered his famous introductory line – “to boldly go where no man has gone before” – he later indicated the alteration appeared to have been reversed.
“They must have restored it,” he noted, adding that previously the iconic phrase was almost imperceptible beneath background music. Paramount+ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Beyond his personal experiences with “Star Trek,” Shatner also criticized what he perceives as forced changes imposed on classic works of literature. He cited the example of “Little House on the Prairie,” based on the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder, highlighting concerns surrounding depictions of Native Americans within the series.
“Obviously you were not around when the ‘wokies’ (not to be confused with Wookiees 😉 coerced the Library Association to change the name of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Literary Award to a generic name because of presentism & their objections on how Native Americans were depicted in the late 1800’s,” Shatner tweeted.
He elaborated, “There’s apparently a line in one of the books where Laura wrote of a character who said ‘there were no people who lived on the prairie only Indians’ & there were one or two other lines which with presentism are culturally insensitive but reflected an opinion of 1860’s America.”
The Laura Ingalls Wilder Award was officially renamed in 2018 by the Association of Library Service to Children (ALSC). The board’s decision, reached unanimously, resulted in the award being rebranded as the “Children’s Literature Legacy Award.”
- Previous Name: Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
- New Name: Children’s Literature Legacy Award
The ALSC stated that the decision was “in consideration of the fact that Wilder’s legacy, as represented by her body of work, includes expressions of stereotypical attitudes inconsistent with ALSC’s core values of inclusiveness, integrity and respect, and responsiveness.”
Attempts to reach the American Library Association for comment were unsuccessful at the time of this report.