On 5/20/06, Sarah slimvirgin@gmail.com wrote:
I agree that it's a matter of editorial common sense. If the ethnicity is relevant to the person's notability, it's fine to mention it in the intro. If it's harmless, ditto. But if it's irrelevant and arguably racist, anti-Semitic, or Islamophobic, then it's important not to mention it with unseemly haste. We shouldn't have articles starting with: "John Doe is a British Muslim convicted of child rape," or "Jane Doe is an Afro-American who murdered all four of her husbands." There's no harm in mentioning ethnic background in the bio section, but it shouldn't be used as a stick to beat people with (or to beat their ethnicity with).
What if they are famous rather than infamous? Is it ok to give the ethnicity a bit of a "boost"? One such issue I recall seeing was on [[Freddie Mercury]] - how important are his Indian or Persian origins?
I don't mind if the rules are different for "positive" vs "negative" articles - it's a bit of a violation of NPOV, but not a major one.
Steve