On 5/20/06, Steve Bennett stevagewp@gmail.com wrote:
On 5/20/06, Sarah slimvirgin@gmail.com wrote:
Even if Harold Shipman was Jewish and there's a good source for it, there's no reason it should be in the intro. His ethnicity/religion wasn't in any way relevant to his notabilty.
I'm probably straying into dangerous territory here, but I do notice that ethnic origin is very frequently cited in the intro for people with, shall we say, more positive contributions to humanity. "Jim Smith was a Jewish scientist of Polish origin best known for his studies of geraniums" seems like something you would come across fairly often.
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).
Sarah