# Dr. McCoy: Angel of mercy or racist bastard? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883 "2003-07-16T14:21:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/1 "2003-07-16T14:21:58Z")
Well? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/2 "2003-07-16T14:53:28Z")
He’s dead, Jim. Link? Story? Reference? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/3 "2003-07-16T15:00:28Z")
Crusty small town country doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/4 "2003-07-16T15:01:25Z")
I don’t know. I’m an engineer damn it, not a moral philosopher! Seriously, Bones McCoy treated a greater variety of species than any other fictional doctor. So on what grounds are you accusing the venerable made-up physician of being a racist? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/5 "2003-07-16T15:07:58Z")
Well, he did have a few choice epithets for Spock from time to time, but we know it was all good natured ribbing between friends. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/6 "2003-07-16T15:52:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zorro \* > \*\*So on what grounds are you accusing the venerable made-up physician of being a racist? \*\* “Why you green blooded, pointy eared, cold hearted, half-breed, goat felching Vulcan!” I saw an episode of TOS the other week and was pretty shocked at what today might be considered unacceptable racial epithets. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/7 "2003-07-16T15:55:48Z")
I’m surprised the Vulcan community hasn’t protested. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/8 "2003-07-16T15:56:07Z")
Wouldn’t “Racist” imply hatred towards a race? Seems like Bones had no beef with the different races of humans aboard the Enterprise. Would the word you are looking for be “Specieist” since the aliens he treated were of an entirely different species than the humans? Even “Phylumist”, or “Genusist”. Like a cosmic vetrenarian. I don’t think he was any of them. He was just a simple country doctor, dammit!. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/9 "2003-07-16T15:57:23Z")
Vulcan’s aren’t a race, they’re a whole different species. And I would consider it ribbing. Yes, it’s a little rough by today’s standards, but since a few years before TOS began the only response that aliens ever got on TV was “shoot on sight”, it was a massive step up to show them as people, capable of being loved, trusted, and even teased. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/10 "2003-07-16T16:02:14Z")
Cafe Society, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/11 "2003-07-16T16:09:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duke of Rat \* > **Would the word you are looking for be “Specieist” since the aliens he treated were of an entirely different species than the humans? Even “Phylumist”, or “Genusist”.** Genusist? Genusist is forbidden! Take permits many, money more! ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/12 "2003-07-16T16:12:26Z")
Since they can interbreed and produce non-sterile offspring, Vulcans, and Klingons are NOT a separate species from humans. There are, I’m sure, at least several other races of beings that can interbreed with humans and produce non-sterile offspring. They too are the same species as humans. Oh, wait, I forgot to suspend all of my disbalief. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/13 "2003-07-16T16:23:00Z")
I thing Xenophobe is the term. I can’t recall any prejudice he displayed aside from Spock. ---
**Author:** ![Zorro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ad7895/32.png) [@Zorro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zorro)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/14 "2003-07-16T16:26:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tdn \* > \*\*“Why you green blooded, pointy eared, cold hearted, half-breed, goat felching Vulcan!” > > I saw an episode of TOS the other week and was pretty shocked at what today might be considered unacceptable racial epithets. \*\* Being shocked by fictional doctors in the future making deliberately over-the-top comments to a make-belief character from an imaginary species frankly strikes me as utterly ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/15 "2003-07-16T16:31:01Z")
How about that episode when he got drunk and went on and on about ZOG? Or am I remembering that guy dressed like him at that convention…hmm. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/16 "2003-07-16T16:31:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zorro \* > **comments to a make-belief character** Certainly not politically correct, though. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/17 "2003-07-16T16:36:35Z")
McCoy called Spock names because he knew that, as a Vulcan, Spock would never reply in kind, or more simply, beat his ass till he yelled for mama. I think he was a bit of a racist (or ‘speciesist’) and strangely anti-intellectual for a scientist, but when push came to shove, he adhered to the Hippocratic Oath. Hey, he didn’t care much for the Horta, but he went ahead and treated one anyway (despite being a doctor, not a bricklayer). I can’t believe I’ve posted a serious answer to this thread. Must really be off my game today. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/18 "2003-07-16T16:37:10Z")
It is not necessarily true that members of different species can’t produce fertile offspring. [Exhibit A](http://www.bengalcat.com/aboutbengals/foundation.php) Now, you wouldn’t expect humans to be able to breed with energy beings, corrosive silicon-blobs or brains in jars, but if environmental pressures could result in independent development of creatures that closely resemble humans wearing false ears or prosthetic foreheads, it’s conceivable that their genitals could fit together and their chromosomes line up correctly. Not bloody likey, but conceivable. As to McCoy’s racism/xenophobia, I seem to remember a line in the film where they return to earth aboard a Klingon ship where he commented on the Klingon “stench”. Since no one in subsequent films or TV episodes has commented on Klingon odor, I have to think either this was prejudice on the doctor’s part, or Klingon deodorant technology improved dramatically in intervening years. I’m pretty sure he never said “goat-felching”. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/19 "2003-07-16T16:40:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zorro \* > \*\*Being shocked by fictional doctors in the future making deliberately over-the-top comments to a make-belief character from an imaginary species frankly strikes me as utterly ridiculous. \*\* Well, it’s not like I lost any sleep over it. And it took me several weeks to get around to posting this. And it’s not like I started a Pit thread about it. So there. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2003, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/20 "2003-07-16T16:49:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zorro \* > \*\*Being shocked by fictional doctors in the future making deliberately over-the-top comments to a make-belief character from an imaginary species frankly strikes me as utterly ridiculous. \*\* Well, it’s not like I lost any sleep over it. And it took me several weeks to get around to posting this. And it’s not like I started a Pit thread about it. So there. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883.md?page=2)