 In his novel "The Star Beast", the "de facto" foreign minister of the Terran government is an undersecretary, a Mr. Kiku, who is from Africa.Heinlein explicitly states his skin is "ebony black" and that Kiku is in an arranged marriage that is happy.In a number of his stories, Heinlein challenges his readers' possible racial preconceptions by introducing a strong, sympathetic character, only to reveal much later that he or she is of African or other ancestry.