Space.com: How George Takei of 'Star Trek' faced down discrimination

… Black actor Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) and even a Russian character — Pavel Chekov (played by Walter Koenig), who was portrayed as an ally at the height of Cold War tensions. Roddenberry could be so daring with this diversity, which was unheard of for the time, because the series was set in space, nearly half a millennium in the future. …