I don't know if the mods will appreciate this or not ... because it might be construed as a political / controversial topic ... but I'll risk it.
If it needs to be taken down, I accept that and won't protest it.
This isn't your typical funny, tongue in cheek or fun post ... it's just a commentary that I didn't really know where else to post because it's Star Trek related.
I'm posting this as a commentary on what I am seeing on Star Trek Deep Space Nine, a show I'm currently enjoying. I've just starting season two and I'm almost shocked at the parallels the shows writers were recreating from our past history, the current era of the 90s they were living in and in our modern time period now.
I'm just starting to get introduced to the storyline of the Bajorans and their internal conflicts of wanting to create a Bajoran Only society and becoming intolerant to other species. I know many Trek fans already know this story but its new to me and I am fully enjoying the writing that was produced to highlight this mentality. I highly suggest others who haven't watched DS9 to watch it as well ... plus I am looking forward to more from this show as I am really enjoying it.
It was surprising to me to hear them use the title of the group as 'The Circle' for their extremist political group ... a direct parallel to the KKK, an acronym for the Ku Klux Klan, a name which is believed to be taken from the Greek word 'kyklos', which translates as the word 'circle'. And it was also striking to me to see the symbol they used for their group, a stylized circle, with what almost looks like an 'OK' sign, which over the past decade has become to often be seen as a white supremacist hand gesture.
I'm sure the writers were making the connection to the KKK at the time and I'm sure that many people noticed it when the show first aired ... but it's the symbol that was spray painted as the group's logo that almost looks like that 'OK hand sign' that really surprised me.
Interesting observation. I initially assumed it was coincidental. Mainly because names like “The Circle” are actually a fairly common thing for cults or extremist groups. Just like “The Family.” It’s something I think a writer could have come up with independently without even being aware of that history. However, you do have a couple of points that indicate it could have been inspired by that specifically. Seems like the name may be more than coincidental!