 The first interracial kiss on American network television was in the  episode "Platos Stepchildren," which aired on 22 Nov 1968, when  Captain Kirk (William Shatner (qv)) kissed Lieutenant Uhura  (Nichelle Nichols (qv)). The studio expressed some concern, and it  was suggested instead that Spock should kiss Uhura to make it less  of a problem for the southern [US] audience. Some stations in the  South originally refused to air the episode. Kirk did not kiss Uhura  *voluntarily*; they were forced to do it by aliens controlling their  bodies. So the first interracial kiss, although between two of the  good guys, was the moral equivalent of sexual assault.