# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/61 "2003-07-18T07:53:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TWDuke \* > 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. The problem is that Vulcans, for example, aren’t just humanoids with pointier ears and a less volatile psychological make-up than Terrans. The external differences are minor, but internally they have green, copper-based blood, their hearts are where our stomachs are, and the Great Bird of the Galaxy only knows what else. I can’t really see how two creatures that biochemically and anatomically dissimilar could produce viable offspring. Saying some godlike ancient super-race has been “seeding the Galaxy with humainoid life” doesn’t seem to solve the problem; either all the humanoids are basically similar (apart from minor differences in ears, foreheads, and temperments), or else they ain’t. ---
**Author:** ![TeaRoses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@TeaRoses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaRoses)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/62 "2003-07-18T07:57:59Z")
> [@](#): > > The various humanoid species of the Trek universe cannot breed without extensive scientific help, gene therapy, and numerous other things to make the separate genomes mesh into one cell so that it can develop into an embryo, fetus, fertile adult, etc. I have heard this, but I am one of those weird people who didn’t see any Star Trek after TOS… not that I had anything against them, just I went through a long period without a TV set. So help me out here… Are there any Vulcans in the new ones, and is it specifically mentioned that they need help to interbreed with humans? Don’t get me wrong, it only makes sense, they have copper-based blood for heaven’s sake. Just in the original I was naive enough to believe that Sarek married Amanda and Spock just kind of happened, and I’m sure it wasn’t specifically addressed there. Re: the OP, I’m definitely on the side of “good-natured ribbing” and “crusty old guy” though some of the attitudes toward Klingons were pretty bad. (I’m remembering this episode though where there was something freaky in the air and Chekhov came on to this Klingon female… “You are not human but you are very beautiful” or something like that.) ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/63 "2003-07-18T08:20:29Z")
That would be _Day of the Dove_, where an alien-influenced Chekov came on to Kang’s wife Mara. Didn’t you guys learn anything in school? ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/64 "2003-07-18T10:09:43Z")
I have an old Starfleet medical reference book, printed back around 1977 or so, it has a lot about the physiology of the different species. Klingons, for instance, double up on a lot of organs that we only have one of - they have two livers, for instance. This was due to generations of genetically engineering themselves to make themselves tougher warriors - I guess a situation that would make a human say ‘Ow! My spleen!’ and die would make a Klingon say ‘Ow! My spleen! Good thing I have two!’. These were still smooth-headed Vulcans, BTW. This same guide said that the Vulcan heart beats app. 210 times a minute, and due to the arid environment they evolved in their urine is the color and texture of crude oil. You can imagine that when a Vulcan gets drunk and forgets to flush at a party, he grosses out a lot of people. Said guide was also very racist against Telarians. It said their bad attitude was just because they realized they were ‘less evolved’ than the other races and they felt insecure because of still having animal features. It also has diagrams showing how to treat an Andorian with a dislocated antennae. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/65 "2003-07-18T12:37:50Z")
McCoy was not any more racist than the rest of the Star Trek crew. He used the comments to break down Spock. He just wanted Spock to admit he didn’t like hearing that… of course in Day of the Dove McCoy finally got what he wanted and nearly died from it. I believe all of the Characters were prejudiced in ways. I think that fact made them more realistic. Everyone is going to have their little preconceived notions about other species, some will be more vocal about it, like the old crusty country Doctor. Others will suppress them until times of stress, Like the Good Captain himself who under the guise of helping or giving a hint to Spock would go way further than McCoy ever did. (See What are Little Girls made of and This side of Paradise for examples) Spock had his own racism to deal with. He was told by his father that Vulcans were superior to humans, youcan see it in how he tries desperatly to remain as Vulcan as possible and to slag humans (even though he is half human) at any chance. Think about any time where he condemned the Vulcan race for anything. You would be hard pressed to find it. Finally the other crew members would vent their prejudices towards “enemy” species, notably the Klingons. The fact that they were able to put these aside to work together is more telling about the human condition than the haughty attitude of STNG who simply say “We’ve evolved passed prejudice” (Yet watch the reaction of the crew whenever there is a Ferenghi about. You can watch their noses curl up and them muttering nasty slurs under their breath. ) Yes we have stupid prejudices but we can learn to put them aside, ignore the primitive voices in our heads that fear difference, and work for the common good. Rodenberry and the writers were, deliberately or not, showing how the United States (and by extension North America) worked. Different groups with their own misconceptions of others putting them aside to build a better place for them all. Sure this puts them in a less than pretty light but it certainly makes them more human and the fact that they try to go beyond their prejudices and develop friendships says a lot too. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/66 "2003-07-18T13:18:57Z")
I’ve always felt that McCoy passed ‘good natured ribbing’ in _The Galileo 7_. He was on Spock’s case that show pretty hard and, I feel, on the verge of mutiny. Also take into account that young doctor who sometimes appeard in TOS, you know, the black guy. Why did he _never_ go down to the planet? Why did he _never_ get to even work on that many patients? Huh? Because McCoy is the THE MAN and is hell bent on keeping the brother down, that’s why! ---
**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 18, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/67 "2003-07-18T13:31:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zebra \* > \*\*I’ve always felt that McCoy passed ‘good natured ribbing’ in _The Galileo 7_. > > Also take into account that young doctor who sometimes appeard in TOS, you know, the black guy. \*\* They were gonna buyt the farm. He was understandably concerned. [This guy?](http://www.startrek.com/library/individ.asp?ID=116880) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/68 "2003-07-18T14:56:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vivalostwages \* > \*\*McCoy and Spock were great friends. They just had complicated ways of expressing it sometimes. \*\* Slash, anyone? :dubious: **tdn** , you parodied my fave scene from _STIII:TSFS_ Kudos! ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/69 "2003-07-18T16:22:16Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by NoClueBoy \* \*\*Slash, anyone? :dubious: SNIP You wish, Naughty Boy! ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/70 "2003-07-18T16:42:04Z")
> [@](#): > > The fact that they were able to put these [prejudices] aside to work together is more telling about the human condition than the haughty attitude of STNG who simply say “We’ve evolved passed prejudice” (Yet watch the reaction of the crew whenever there is a Ferenghi about. You can watch their noses curl up and them muttering nasty slurs under their breath. ) THANK YOU!!! I liked TNG as much as the next Trekkie, but I hated the holier-than-thou attitude that everyone had regarding 20th Century society. If you pay attention to the way they act, it becomes rather obvious that this claim is nothing more than mental masturbation. These guys aren’t any more evolved than we are, they just have better toys. OTOH, I suspect that an 18th Century guy would probably be able to say the same thing about _us._ ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/71 "2003-07-18T16:56:11Z")
Aye, there’s the rub. They didn’t have the internet in the 1700’s. Just Arpanet. ---
**Author:** ![Stccrd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Stccrd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stccrd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/72 "2003-07-18T17:10:39Z")
My Doctor’s name is Dr. McCoy ---
**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 18, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/73 "2003-07-18T17:40:03Z")
There is a McCoy building on campus. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/74 "2003-07-18T17:59:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*Actually, I found _Next Generation_ and _Deep Space Nine_ far more racist than anything shown on the original series. Their racism consisted of writing one-track Ferengi (always greedy) and Klingon (always violent) characters. Even the aggressively PC human characters would casually throw off remarks about how Ferengi couldn’t be trusted, etc. \*\* I think you’re mistaken here. The two characteristics mentioned were the traits that each society valued, in the Ferengi’s case, it’s the basis of their religion. People ( of any species ) are going to carry with them the attitudes and values of the culture they were raised in, although the degree to which they do this will vary from individual to individual. Since those who go into space are presumably, even in the 24th century, at least somewhat successful members of their respective societies ( Can you imaging a spaceship full of drunks? Or mass murderers? Not that it couldn’t happen, witness the Pakleds, and of course there are going to be isolated incidences, but in general? No, I don’t think so ), these individuals are going to display the cultural biases that their society happens to value. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/75 "2003-07-18T18:06:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*Actually, I found _Next Generation_ and _Deep Space Nine_ far more racist than anything shown on the original series. Their racism consisted of writing one-track Ferengi (always greedy) and Klingon (always violent) characters. Even the aggressively PC human characters would casually throw off remarks about how Ferengi couldn’t be trusted, etc. \*\* I think you’re mistaken here. The two characteristics mentioned were the traits that each society valued, in the Ferengi’s case, it’s the basis of their religion. People ( of any species ) are going to carry with them the attitudes and values of the culture they were raised in, although the degree to which they do this will vary from individual to individual. Since those who go into space are presumably, even in the 24th century, at least somewhat successful members of their respective societies ( Can you imaging a spaceship full of drunks? Or mass murderers? Not that it couldn’t happen, witness the Pakleds, and of course there are going to be isolated incidences, but in general? No, I don’t think so ), these individuals are going to display the cultural biases that their society happens to value. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/76 "2003-07-18T18:41:28Z")
Drunks, mass murderers = Pakleds?! You think we are not smart. We _are_ smart. One of the plot points in _Samaritan Snare_ was that the preconceived notion of their inteligence was wrong. They were quite capable of luring others into a situation that would only benefit the Pakleds. It was a slightly moralistic episode episode. The moral being: Don’t judge a book by its cover. Or, Just because I sound/look/act different than you, doesn’t mean I’m stupid (see our numerous threads about the South where predjudices about accents or way of life is discussed.) Or, cheese is a very good snack food. We look for things. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/77 "2003-07-18T19:04:43Z")
Um, hello, people - [_all life in our universe was seeded by the same race on various planets with the same basic genetic structure!_](http://www.startrek.com/library/tng_episodes/episodes_tng_detail_68598.asp) Duh! I tell you, some people… Esprix ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/78 "2003-07-18T19:25:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Badtz Maru \* > \*\*I have an old Starfleet medical reference book, printed back around 1977 or so,…It also has diagrams showing how to treat an Andorian with a dislocated antennae. \*\* and if memory serves, how to perform CPR on a Gorn. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/79 "2003-07-18T19:29:54Z")
On the whole “different species” thread, not to hijack, but if we ever do discover multiple forms of life on other planets, will it require us to completely rewrite our taxonomic codes or will we just go with what the Martian dust-lizard most resembles? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883/80 "2003-07-18T19:40:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*I’m surprised the Vulcan community hasn’t protested. \*\* They have. But because we don’t have subspace, they had to use conventional radio, which means we will receive the transmission in the year 3124. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-mccoy-angel-of-mercy-or-racist-bastard/188883.md?page=5)