Since the 1960s, Star Trek has been a voice in addressing social injustices of the present day. One Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode still relevant in today’s social climate is the season 6 episode “Far Beyond the Stars”, which deals heavily with the reality of systemic racism. Armin Shimerman, known to Star Trek fans as the cunning Ferengi bar owner, Quark, spoke with StarTrek.com this week in an interview that focused on the popular DS9 episode.

In “Far Beyond the Stars”, Captain Benjamin Sisko, played by Avery Brooks, experiences visions of himself living the life of Benny Russell, a Black science fiction writer struggling to make a name for himself in racially charged 1950s America. The episode was directed by Brooks and features a rather stunning and emotional performance from the actor.

“We knew it was a special episode when we were filming it,” Shimerman said of the story, adding that he is proud that “Far Beyond the Stars” was able to “open our eyes and ears to the ugliness of racism.” But the 70 year old actor feels troubled that our society is still dealing with the racism that the Benny Russell character would have experienced when Shimerman himself was only a small child, saying, “It’s different, of course...but it doesn’t make it any less ugly”. Shimerman went on to add that he is grateful for cell phones, and their cameras, allowing us to widely share the harsh reality of racial injustice in modern times. “I think we are galvanized,” the actor said. “Hopefully, we never forget.”

While “Far Beyond the Stars” focused on racism towards African Americans, Shimerman said the experience was also meaningful for the diverse cast of Deep Space Nine. “All of us had tangentially experienced racism in one form or another,” he said in the interview. “We were a show made up of many minorities...We had a Middle Eastern actor in our midst, Jewish actors, all minorities who had been affected by a type of racism. Avery [Brooks] has always been an enormous exponent for Black equality. For us to be doing this episode with him directing it, we knew this was a project that was very special to him. So we were very happy to do it.”

Head over to StarTrek.com to read the full interview with actor Armin Shimerman and be sure to watch the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Far Beyond the Stars”, available to stream now on CBS All Access.