The audience liked that part of it, but as different Star Trek series came and went, the idea became a parody of itself. The politically correct wanted different races as the captain of the ship, and then a woman. But this advocacy/demand was an inversion of what the original show was about. The original show was a meritocracy. Lt. Uhura was not just a black affirmative action hire, but the best communications officer available. Nobody on the show ever thought she wasn't. But the politically correct turned it into "let's have an X or a Y be captain," without understanding that they were completely missing the point.
We are now in a Star Trek presidency. We had several white male captains, so now we want black captains, then women captains, and not bothering to ask if they are the best available.