LeVar Burton is known for his role as Geordie La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The chief engineer of the USS Enterprise is known for his signature VISOR which allows the born blind character to see. Burton also gained fame for his role as Kunta Kinte in Roots and his children’s series Reading Rainbow.
Burton has since become a huge pop-cultural icon and has even helmed multiple episodes of various Star Trek shows. However, this stage did not come easy to him as the actor recounted many incidents of his life where he faced prejudice. One particular incident where he was harassed by the police was reportedly a defining moment for him.
LeVar Burton Had A Run-In With Cops When He Was In College
The world knows LeVar Burton as the chief engineer of the USS Enterprise Geordie La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actor has mentioned how big of a fan he was of the original series and would hang out with a producer of the show, who was also working with him on another gig.
Burton gained notoriety for his role as Kunta Kinte in the TV show Roots, based on Alex Haley’s novel of the same name. The actor was only nineteen when he was cast and the role made him a household name. Roots explored the life of Kinte, who was enslaved in Africa and then sent to North America, and the struggles his descendants went through.
LeVar Burton reportedly encountered his own share of troubles with the law when he was a student at the University of Southern California. The actor mentioned that he was routinely stopped by the LAPD as he matched the description of a stereo thief. Once, he was reportedly stopped by the same cop who had checked him before (via This is My Story),
Seemingly from nowhere his path was cut off by an LAPD cruiser the doors flew open and suddenly he was staring down the barrel of a shotgun at point-blank range…a dawning realization hit him that they didn’t see him at all they only saw the color of his skin and to them that meant he didn’t belong there.
The actor also mentioned that due to the number of times he had been stopped by the cops, he was always carrying his student ID because he had to prove to them that he was a resident of the neighborhood.
LeVar Burton Loved Star Trek Because Of Its Inclusivity
Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek was unlike many other sci-fi franchises at the time, which usually viewed the future through a dystopian lens. In contrast, the show saw the future in a positive light and added many elements that promoted inclusivity and diplomacy.
It was these elements that reportedly attracted LeVar Burton to the show in the first place. The actor was reportedly born in Germany as his father was stationed there and would hold American pop cultural artifacts dearly, among which was Star Trek. The inclusion of actors like Nichelle Nichols in the show redefined Burton’s life (via Ed Surge),
Gene Roddenberry’s version of the future was different. Seeing Nichelle Nichols [the African American actress who played Lt. Uhura] on the bridge of the original Enterprise meant the world to me. As a storyteller, Roddenberry was saying: ‘When the future comes, there’s a place for you.’ It was a representation of the future that I could project myself into.
The actor mentioned how he realized that seeing oneself in a sci-fi story added a lot to its longevity and that it was necessary to have a place for everyone in the future.
Star Trek is available to stream on Paramount+.
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