# Is Sheldon's mother a racist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868 "2016-08-05T19:25:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/1 "2016-08-05T19:25:14Z")
I go back and forth on this. She does say some pretty racist things but I don’t think she believes other races are inferior or that they should be treated differently. But sometimes. . … Like when Leonard told her Pria’s parents disapprove of him because he’s white and she said something like, “Well, that’s interesting. You never think about it the other way.” Do you think Sheldon’s mom is a racist? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/2 "2016-08-05T19:26:31Z")
I would say she’s ignorant at the very least. Funny enough, it seems to have rubbed off on Sheldon…he’s done questionable things, like putting Raj in charge of “tech support” when they were helping Penny with her home business. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/3 "2016-08-05T21:39:33Z")
No, she isn’t a racist. She came from a small town in East Texas and probably never interacted with a Black or Asian person until Sheldon settled in Pasadena. All she knows is stereotypes. Let’s see how she’d react to a Mexican, though. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2016, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/4 "2016-08-05T21:49:26Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > No, she isn’t a racist. She came from a small town in East Texas and probably never interacted with a Black or Asian person until Sheldon settled in Pasadena. All she knows is stereotypes. > > Let’s see how she’d react to a Mexican, though… You think there’s no black people in east Texas? Or Mexicans? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/5 "2016-08-05T22:01:08Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > No, she isn’t a racist. She came from a small town in East Texas and probably never interacted with a Black or Asian person until Sheldon settled in Pasadena. All she knows is stereotypes. > > Let’s see how she’d react to a Mexican, though. Your whole post is deluded and factually incorrect. You really think there are almost no black people in East Texas and they don’t interact with whites on a daily basis? I grew up in that general area myself in a small town and our black population was over 40% right in line with other small towns in the region (many of the cities are majority minority). East Texas is part of the Deep South. It may be lacking in some things but black people isn’t one of them. It is Texas so there is no shortage of Hispanics either. I am not sure if it ever says where in East Texas she is from but the greater Houston area is one of the most diverse areas of the country with a gigantic Asian and Indian population (as well as just about everything else). You must have been thinking of Vermont because East Texas is heavily minority and has been throughout its modern history. It is laughable to think that someone from East Texas “never interacted with a Black or Asian person until Sheldon settled in Pasadena”. Is that really what you think the area is like? Minorities live in California and not the South because of tolerance or something. If you really believe that, you are going to have to sit down and get some smelling salts before I can explain reality to you. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/6 "2016-08-05T22:27:55Z")
Well you see, there’s that word again… When I hear the word \*\*racist \*\*I think of someone that excludes, hates and harms another person **specifically** and **only** because of their race. They’re extremely thin skinned and vile and because of their own lack of confidence in themselves and somewhere in their mind, they know they’re wrong in their beliefs, will lash out spewing hatred. To _ **ME** _ anyway, because of all of that, a racist is one of the worst things you can call a person. I believe that Sheldon’s mom is ignorant about others, especially those who don’t look, speak, act or believe in what she does, but I don’t see that vileness, that evil hatred within her. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/7 "2016-08-05T23:01:04Z")
> [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](#): > > Well you see, there’s that word again… > > When I hear the word \*\*racist \*\*I think of someone that excludes, hates and harms another person **specifically** and **only** because of their race. They’re extremely thin skinned and vile and because of their own lack of confidence in themselves and somewhere in their mind, they know they’re wrong in their beliefs, will lash out spewing hatred. > > To _ **ME** _ anyway, because of all of that, a racist is one of the worst things you can call a person. > > I believe that Sheldon’s mom is ignorant about others, especially those who don’t look, speak, act or believe in what she does, but I don’t see that vileness, that evil hatred within her. I mostly agree. I do not see race hatred. Mostly. Sometimes though, I am taken aback by what she says. She _does_ seems very loving to all. Look how she treats Raj. And how accepting she is even though she thought both Raj and Leonard were probably gay Still-- I remember something Sheldon said about Jews in East Texas. “Yiddish was not spoken in East Texas. And if it was, it wasn’t spoken for long.” Throw away lines like that scare me. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/8 "2016-08-05T23:26:11Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Still-- I remember something Sheldon said about Jews in East Texas. “Yiddish was not spoken in East Texas. And if it was, it wasn’t spoken for long.” Throw away lines like that scare me. It shouldn’t because it is just a made-up line by a writer describing something that they imagine a place they have never been to might be like. It is probably true that Yiddish is not spoken in East Texas because there were never any Jewish ghettos there. That is mainly a Northeastern phenomenon. However, you can’t extend that to mean that Jews were selectively persecuted in the region. Most people are surprised when they find out that Jews have never been systemically discriminated against in the Deep South let alone the South as a whole except for general purpose hate groups like the KKK and they were a fringe group in the area if they existed in a specific area at all. There is a very long history of Texas Jews and in the South in general. There are over 158,000 Jews in Texas alone and many of them have very deep roots there. Only five COUNTRIES in the world have more Jews than Texas does and some of those like Russia are very close to equal. That throwaway line may be funny or seem telling to some but it is neither in reality. If you ever want to see a Jewish cowgirl or Jewish Southern Belle, I can promise you they exist because I was related by marriage to a proud Texan/Jewish family that considered themselves both. I met many more when I was at Tulane. We have had threads on this but the line that you reference is inaccurate because Jews in the South in general are a socially protected class because of the Evangelical movement. They are considered to be God’s chosen people and you simply do not try to make their life more difficult. It also helps that many of them are doctors, lawyers and CPA’s, college professors and similar types of professions. You would have to be truly evil and stupid to harbor hate against someone that might help save your ass some day. ---
**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:** [August 5, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/9 "2016-08-05T23:37:30Z")
Frankly, I’m blown away by how (almost?) every grocery store in Houston has a decent sized kosher section. I think at least 7 out of 10 times I’m in my local store I see at least one yarmulke. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/10 "2016-08-06T00:38:01Z")
**kunilou** , I don’t mean to be rude but I am honestly intrigued about why your response was so impressively wrong. It is one of the worst I have ever seen on this board from an established poster. It is like talking to a member of the flat-earth society or a moon landing denier in its inaccuracy. I know you are much smarter than that because I have read your other posts for years but you got this so-called information and ideas from somewhere and there has to be a reason for those unbelievably inaccurate beliefs. Where did you get the idea that people in East Texas don’t get the opportunity to interact with minorities until they visit a family member in California? To the OP - I don’t think Sheldon’s mother is racist. I just think she is an uppity white woman with an inflated sense of her own worth. It isn’t rare. I have two aunts from East Texas just like her. They are just life-long, wanna be, Southern Belles on the decline and they treat everyone they can like crap in the nicest way possible. You can’t ever tell whether they are giving you a compliment or a subtle insult but it doesn’t matter who you are. They do it to everyone. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/11 "2016-08-06T01:03:09Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > It shouldn’t because it is just a made-up line by a writer describing something that they imagine a place they have never been to might be like. It is probably true that Yiddish is not spoken in East Texas because there were never any Jewish ghettos there. That is mainly a Northeastern phenomenon. However, you can’t extend that to mean that Jews were selectively persecuted in the region. > > Most people are surprised when they find out that Jews have never been systemically discriminated against in the Deep South let alone the South as a whole except for general purpose hate groups like the KKK and they were a fringe group in the area if they existed in a specific area at all. > > There is a very long history of Texas Jews and in the South in general. There are over 158,000 Jews in Texas alone and many of them have very deep roots there. Only five COUNTRIES in the world have more Jews than Texas does and some of those like Russia are very close to equal. > > That throwaway line may be funny or seem telling to some but it is neither in reality. If you ever want to see a Jewish cowgirl or Jewish Southern Belle, I can promise you they exist because I was related by marriage to a proud Texan/Jewish family that considered themselves both. I met many more when I was at Tulane. > > We have had threads on this but the line that you reference is inaccurate because Jews in the South in general are a socially protected class because of the Evangelical movement. They are considered to be God’s chosen people and you simply do not try to make their life more difficult. It also helps that many of them are doctors, lawyers and CPA’s, college professors and similar types of professions. You would have to be truly evil and stupid to harbor hate against someone that might help save your ass some day. It’s interesting to me that Jim Parsons grew up in Spring, Texas. If an actor is given a line so dramatically different than his actual experience, do they ever say "no, this isn’t right? " And there must be a lot of truly stupid and evil people because racism still exists, and anti-Semitism, and a lot of other -isms, even in the face of Jewish and black doctors, lawyers, CPAS etc. I’m from Virginia and have known people who had serious issues with The Other, even if The Other was a doctor or lawyer. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/12 "2016-08-06T01:21:33Z")
You know, the more I think of it, I think it would be proper to say that Sheldon’s mom is a bigot. That she has bigoted opinions, a lot formed by her religious beliefs, but she’s not a racist. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/13 "2016-08-06T01:26:49Z")
There are towns in Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas where you’ll see a lot of one race and almost none of another. I lived in Grant County Arkansas which was 99%+ white despite the state being 77% white as a whole. I’ve been to small towns in Mississippi that were overwhelmingly black with few white faces to be seen despite the fact that whites made up 59% of the state. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/14 "2016-08-06T01:53:13Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > You think there’s no black people in east Texas? Or Mexicans? > [@Shagnasty](#): > > Your whole post is deluded and factually incorrect > [@Shagnasty](#): > > **kunilou** , I don’t mean to be rude but I am honestly intrigued about why your response was so impressively wrong. Aw shucks, folks. Just when I think no one reads my stuff.😉 Let me start by saying I grew up in Texas in the 1950s (although it was Dallas, not East Texas), so I have at least a working knowledge of racism, fundamentalist Christianity, and overall close-mindedness, okay? Secondly, when I said, “Let’s see how she’d react to a Mexican, though,” I was implying that she DID know Mexicans back in East Texas. Therefore, she would have a first-hand opinion about them, not some storybook stereotyping. Regarding Blacks, it’s a little hard to tell because over time _Big Bang Theory_ has been an even whiter show than _Friends_. But I think it’s a reasonable assumption that the Coopers were a poorly educated, unsophisticated family who lived right next to the tracks, but still on the white side, and didn’t “interact” with Black people who might only live two blocks away. They may have shopped in the same stores, or worked in the same companies, but that’s a long way from actually interacting. [QUOTE=Shagnasty] There are over 158,000 Jews in Texas alone and many of them have very deep roots there. [/Quote] **Shagnasty** , we both know that’s 0.6% of the state’s population – the same proportion as Kansas and New Mexico, and lower than Alaska! > [@](#): > > I am not sure if it ever says where in East Texas she is from but the greater Houston area is one of the most diverse areas of the country with a gigantic Asian and Indian population (as well as just about everything else). We specifically know she wasn’t from Houston because, when she acknowledged that she’d had Sheldon tested, she regretted “not following up with that specialist in Houston.” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sheldons-mother-a-racist/761868/15 "2016-08-06T01:55:07Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > It’s interesting to me that Jim Parsons grew up in Spring, Texas. If an actor is given a line so dramatically different than his actual experience, do they ever say "no, this isn’t right? " For what it’s worth, Donald Glover wrote for 30 ROCK, where a running gag was to portray Kenneth’s grew-up-on-the-farm upbringing as absurdly rural. Glover is from Stone Mountain, Georgia: a locality the other writers apparently thought was _the_ perfect name for a backwoods cow town full of inbred hicks. Glover explained that it’s actually a suburb of Atlanta, though he knows some little farming communities that fit the bill – but, see, “Stone Mountain, Georgia” _sounds_ like a great name for a tiny hamlet that maybe never technically rejoined the Union at the end of the Civil War, so they stuck with it anyway.