Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/James Perkins Jr.


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   nomination withdrawn due to sourcing improvement. Bearcat (talk) 14:51, 13 May 2017 (UTC)

James Perkins Jr.

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WP:BLP of a small city mayor, whose only substantive claim of notability is that he was the city's first African American mayor. Per WP:POLOUTCOMES, however, being the first member of a politically underrepresented minority group to hold an otherwise non-notable office is not an automatic WP:NPOL pass in and of itself -- he could still qualify if there were enough sourcing and substance to get him over the "who have received significant press coverage" part of our criteria for local officeholders, but it's not an automatic inclusion freebie on the basis of just one or two sources of which one is a deadlinked piece of routine campaign coverage in the local newspaper. The other source being CNN is one step up -- but it takes more than just one source to make the mayor of a small town more notable than other mayors of small towns, so that source doesn't get this over the finish line all by itself. Bearcat (talk) 14:12, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions.  Jupitus Smart  14:13, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Alabama-related deletion discussions.  Jupitus Smart  14:13, 12 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Weak Delete I wonder if there might be more out there that can be added to this, but I am not sure. Fails NPOL as is right now. South Nashua (talk) 16:15, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep. I've found and added more references. His election was also covered by ABC News, and local sources have enabled me to add a bit about his education and work. (I decided not to use this one.) He also ran again unsuccessfully in 2016. I believe with that second major news article, plus the ongoing coverage that now makes this a minimal biography, that he meets GNG. Yngvadottir (talk) 17:25, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep. He was not the first black mayor of Just Anywhere, USA: Selma, Alabama was a key flashpoint of the American civil rights movement and later home of the National Voting Rights Museum. Accordingly, his election and sometimes acrimonious tenure received national attention.  A few examples from a HighBeam search: Washington Post (2000) ; The Christian Science Monitor (2000), (2003); Boston Globe (2001) ; Charleston Gazette-Mail (2001) ; Newsweek (2005) . Elected the president of the National Conference of Black Mayors in 2008. . I think this is enough to warrant an article.--Arxiloxos (talk) 17:32, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep per Arxiloxos' examination of the sources; passes WP:ANYBIO with persistent coverage in reliable secondary sources. &mdash;  O Fortuna   semper crescis, aut decrescis  17:36, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Added comment. I found and added the Christian Science Monitor and was coming here to report that there is also an article in the Los Angeles Times—from a little after he was elected—that enabled me to add even more biographical information. I also see an Al-Jazeera article. has found even more; I'll add the National Conference of Black Mayors. Yngvadottir (talk) 18:07, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Sorry Bearcat: Selma is not just another small city. It is a regionally important city, and symbolically a hugely important city. Drmies (talk) 18:39, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * None of which confers an exemption from an article having to be sourced properly. Bearcat (talk) 14:53, 13 May 2017 (UTC)


 * Keep as noted, Selma is notable enough in the context of African-American Civil Rights Movement (1954–1968) that he is notable. Power~enwiki (talk) 19:39, 12 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Strong keep - the sourcing found clearly shows the subject is notable. Lady  of  Shalott  00:22, 13 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep - the additional sources, and the unique place of Selma in African-American history, render this an easy decision. -- Orange Mike &#124;  Talk  02:34, 13 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep The improved referencing now in the article shows that he is notable. Thanks to Arxiloxos and Yngvadottir. Cullen328  Let's discuss it  02:39, 13 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep - per above comments. Sourcing shows that the article may as well be notable enough to stay. Cosmic Clone (talk) 02:57, 13 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Keep Selma, Alabama is an important city within the History of the Civil Rights Movement-Thank YouRFD (talk) 12:57, 13 May 2017 (UTC)
 * Thanks, y'all. I agree, this article is now much better sourced and shows stronger evidence of notability than it did at the time. But just to be clear, it's the sourcing improvement that salvages this, not the mere assertion that an automatic GNG-exempted notability freebie would have been created by the conjunction of "first African American mayor" with the fact that the city in question happens to be Selma — regardless of how notable any given claim might sound like it should be in theory, it's the depth and breadth of sourcing that can be shown, not the mere presence of a minimally sourced claim, that determines whether notability is actually there in fact. At any rate, the sourcing is now there, so consider this withdrawn. Bearcat (talk) 14:51, 13 May 2017 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.