Life Imitates Trek: The Bell Riots

Everyone knows the various Star Trek series accurately predicted numerous real world technological innovations— things like cell phones, iPads, handheld medical scanners and even transparent aluminum.

The shows also attempted to predict Earth's future history, often coming pretty close to the mark. 

Nowhere was that more apparent than in the third season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In the two part storyline Past Tense, Parts 1 & 2, the series accurately foresaw the dire circumstances of our present day, in astonishingly precise detail. 

As the story begins, the crew of the Defiant is taking a trip to Earth for reasons. 

Commander Sisko (who hadn't become a captain yet at this point on the show),

Dr. Bashir and Jadzia Dax beam down to Starfleet Headquarters.

Wow, take a look at that dinky transporter room! I realize the Defiant's a small ship, but that thing's barely the size of a closet. They're practically standing shoulder to shoulder in it! And they had to stick the controls on the wall, instead of in front of the pad like on a full-sized starship.

Anyway, right as the crew teleports, the ship's hit by a massive technobabble wave. For no apparent reason this shunts the transporter beam back in time, and the three materialize in San Francisco in the far off year of... 2024 (!).

Sisko and Bashir wake up on the street, where they're confronted by armed guards who're none to happy to see them.

Dax is separated from the other two, and ends up in the subway entrance below them.

Take a look at how she's lying there... she's supposedly unconscious, even though she's sitting in an incredibly awkward upright position. Dax is a Trill— maybe that's how members of her race look when they're passed out? Or did actress Terry Ferrell refuse to sprawl out on the dirty floor of the set? Either way, it's a downright weird pose.

The armed guards question Sisko and Bashir, and discover they have no I.D., jobs or homes. The two are immediately detained and taken to a Sanctuary District. It's a twenty square block area, surrounded  by an impenetrable wall.

All major cities have these Districts, which allegedly offer food and temporary shelter to those in need. In reality they're a dumping ground for the city's unemployed and homeless— keeping them out of sight from the upper class citizens. Once one enters the walled-off Sanctuary, it's virtually impossible to ever leave.

Realizing they're completely on their own, the two make their way through the ghetto-like Sanctuary. The pampered Bashir is horrified and disgusted by the living conditions there, and wonders how something like this could have happened on Earth.

Sadly, this scene hits a little too close to home. Even though it was filmed on a studio backlot in 1995, it looks IDENTICAL to present day San Francisco (or any major American city, for that matter). Especially the images of people huddled in tents on the sidewalk.

Meanwhile, Dax is rescued by a sympathetic software developer named Chris Brynner, who takes her in and helps her get back on her feet. She quickly realizes she's materialized in the past, and attempts to locate her crewmates.

Note the very obvious societal symbolism here, as Sisko & Bashir— who are both brown— are immediately dumped in a ghetto. Dax on the other hand— who appears to be a beautiful white woman— is ushered into a world of luxury and wealth. 

Subtle!

Sisko and Bashir visit a processing center, where they fill out numerous forms in order to obtain ID and ration cards. 

Sisko notices the date, and realizes it's significant. Turns out he's VERY conveniently a student of 21st Century Earth history, and realizes they've arrived just days before the Bell Riots occurred. Or will occur. 

Sisko then infodumps Earth's history to Bashir, saying that in the next few days tempers will flare in the Sanctuary and a violent riot will break out. Fed-up detainees will take a group of guards hostage, threatening to kill them unless their demands are met.

A detainee named Gabriel Bell will end up sacrificing himself to save the hostages, and end up becoming a martyr. Bell turns out to be a massively important historical figure, as his death draws the media's attention to the Sanctuaries— forcing the government to eliminate them and give the detainees the help they so desperately need. Sisko points out that the Bell Riots are a watershed moment in Earth's history, ultimately paving the way for the Federation to form.

Kudos to Deep Space Nine's graphic department here, as this readout actually got the date right. August 30, 2024 does indeed fall on a Friday. The only area where they dropped the ball though was thinking that we'd be using Celsius instead of Fahrenheit in 2024!

Sometime later Sisko and Bashir are involved in an altercation with another detainee. A man rushes to save them, but is stabbed to death for his trouble.

Sisko takes the dead man's ID, and is horrified to see his name was... Gabriel Bell! He realizes their presence here has inadvertently altered history, wiping out the Federation in the 23rd Century.

Right on schedule, the Sanctuary explodes in violence as the riots begin. Sisko realizes he has to impersonate Bell (who very conveniently was also a black man) in order to set history right and restore the timeline.

There's a lot more to the story, but basically Sisko successfully takes Bell's place, is shot but gets better, and with Dax's help they return to the Defiant in the 23rd Century.

Back on the ship, Sisko recovers from his gunshot wound. Bashir enters and hands him a padd containing a shocking revelation— as far as history's concerned, Sisko WAS Gabriel Bell!

Which brings us to the point of this lengthy post. Of all the many predictions the various Trek series made concerning our society, THIS had to be the one that came true!

Are you freakin' kidding me? We can't develop transporters, warp drives or replicators, but armed homeless prisons we can have! Figures. And just further proof that we're living in the darkest timeline.

Amazingly, the scenes of the Sanctuary District look like they were filmed in present day San Francisco.

Ah, but it gets even worse! Earlier this year Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill making homelessness "illegal," and requiring them to live in special "camps." 

I dunno about you, but to me that sounds a LOT like a Sanctuary District! And right on schedule too, as the episode took place in 2024.

Chilling!

Eh, in the end it's nothing compared to what else awaits us. According to Star Trek lore, just a few years after the Bell Riots, World War III breaks out in 2026! Sleep tight, everyone!