Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of ethnic stereotypes

 This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was KEEP. Stormie 10:40, Feb 7, 2005 (UTC)

List of ethnic stereotypes
A very troublesome article, which I think is next to impossible to have a NPOV. And, the article probably is offensive to quite a lot of people. Vote for DELETION -- Chris 73 Talk 04:17, Jan 24, 2005 (UTC)
 * The basis of an excellent, informative, useful article. Keep, obviously.--Centauri 04:56, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. I really hope the above user was being sarcastic, but I'm afraid he/she was not. This article is offensive, POV, and completely unverifiable. Carrp 05:02, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * I am most certainly not being sarcastic. This article should exist as an encyclopedic record of stereotypes - offensive or otherwise. There is no reason to censor unpleasant data because it is unpleasant; indeed, that is all the more reason to document it properly, in an unbiased manner.--Centauri 10:12, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)


 * Redirecting to Ethnic stereotype and merging anything worthwhile can't do any harm. &#8212;Charles P. (Mirv) 05:14, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Redirect afterwards if you must.  Unlike the previous vfd survivor List of ethnic slurs, the information here has no merit. &mdash;Korath (Talk) 05:40, Jan 24, 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, I think it's quite interesting. As for offensive, there is much worse stuff on Wikipedia. Grue 12:12, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete I think there's an excellent article to be made on this topic, and it would be fascinating to learn where all these got started, how they're perpetuated, how accurate they are (if at all), backlash against them, etc. If it's just a context-free list though, it isn't really helping anybody. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd  14:21, Jan 24, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, Agree with Starblind, not useful in this form. -- taviso 15:09, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong Delete. It is unclear to me whether strict application of the deletion guidelines would support my vote, but this article is so offensive I just don't care if they do or not.  I'm voting with my gut on this one.  --RoySmith 16:10, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep and cleanup. With a little collective brainstorming it shouldn't be too hard to find examples or references for this stuff.  The current list is not wholly useless for someone who wishes to write a better article.  -- Smerdis of Tlön 16:53, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm sure we could find examples of each stereotypes, in the same way we could find plenty of exceptions. However, I highly doubt we could find references for these stereotypes. One of the main criteria for a WP artcile is that the information is verifiable. The fact that it's also very offensive just makes it that much worse. Carrp 18:25, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)


 * Delete. Offensiveness is irrelevant, a stereotype is inherently POV. Xezbeth  18:29, Jan 24, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete and redirect to ethnic stereotype. Unverifiable and very U.S.-centric. (I don't know of any stereotypes common anywhere in Europe of white people that involve NASCAR or trailer parks, although the Russians do cultivate certain stereotypes of Caucasians). Besides, a superficial list like this can never put stereotypes in a context that will make it clearly NPOV, and I don't see it having any potential to change for the better. / up+land 19:21, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Additional comment: the issue here should not be whether ethnic stereotypes as offensive should be allowed to be mentioned in Wikipedia or not, but that ethnic stereotypes are dependent on a cultural context which a list simply cannot provide. An article can do that, a list can not. Without context and references, it is simply not encyclopedic. / up+land 10:19, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep and Move to List of ethnic stereotypes in the US. A descriptive account of what prejudices are common in the US is not inherently POV. Maybe some sort of disclaimer and explanation at the beginning would be a good idea. Martg76 19:50, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. Yes they are painful but hey, these are stereotypes and you can't just ignore them. --Woohookitty 21:49, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep, cleanup and expand. Megan1967 23:32, 24 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, offensive, and inherently US-POV. -- Arwel 01:27, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Move -- I agree with Martg76. As to Russian stereotypes of, say, Caucasians, Uzbeks, Tartars... that's another list. --Christofurio 01:36, Jan 25, 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. It's a natural extension of List of ethnic slurs. It should certainly be cleaned up; we can differentiate between various ethnic subdivisions, have greater detail, and talk about some of the history and such.  We can also make it less US-centric by saying exactly who tends to believe what sterotype (Or who is stereotypically assumed to have a certain sterotype).  Remember, we're not saying any of this excrement is remotely true, we're just acknowledging the harsh reality of sterotypes. -LtNOWIS 01:52, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. This page is not POV because these are in fact stereotypes. Images like these are everywhere and it's good to show them as stereotypes and not necessarily reality. CPS 03:18, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * I noticed you made an edit to this page in which you modified several of the stereotypes. I'm not interested in debating any of these changes, but what if I did want to dispute them? How can a user show that stereotype A should be included but stereotype B should not? That's the main problem with lists of unverifiable information. This page will quickly devolve (if it already hasn't) into insults being hurled at every ethnic group.

Carrp 04:14, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * I noticed that CPS decided to remove a few stereotypes. So was his decision to remove them because they weren't stereotypes, because they were reality or because they were POV? I vote to DeleteLokifer 07:34, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)


 * Delete I have added another example of ethnic stereotypes which, while it a valid addition, does I think demostrate why this page should be deleted.  Every community in the world has stereotypes about every other community,  usually they just cause trouble.  Whoops, forgot to sign. ping 21:18, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. In principle, one group's stereotypes regarding another are verifiable.  But I doubt people contributing to this page will do so, and this will just become a nasty place for people who have the stereotypes to indulge them.   That will not be to Wikipedia's credit.   Stereotyping can be discussed in an NPOV, useful, way.   Having a random, unverified list of them is not it. --BM 13:01, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. Bad, but we should learn to accept the insults. However, there are much more worse things in wiki that should be deleted but not and better things that are in wiki and deleted.-2love 23:01 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete and redirect to ethnic stereotype A simple list of terms is open to hatred and bigotry, while really providing little knowledge on the topic. I also agree that the current list is almost completely US-centric. --InShaneee 15:56, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong keep. Noteworthy and potentially useful for research.    GRider\talk 18:12, 25 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Strong keep. Offensive != POV.  Bacchiad 08:39, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Subject is inherently POV. --Carnildo 20:15, 26 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete DJ Clayworth 05:19, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete, Agree with Starblind, not useful in this form. -- Burschik 12:17, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. This is most assuredly unencyclopedic as it does not even qualify as an article.  The point of lists, it seems to me, is either to organize groups of articles or provide a number of short entires on subjects of a common theme that do not deserve their own articles.  This list fails to do either and provides no context for its entires.  Furthermore, it is hard, though not impossible, to keep this NPOV when it is just a list with no context for any of its assertions.  Some of these stereotypes deserve mention somewhere in wikipedia, maybe even their own articles, but this does not seem to be the place for it.  The people that claim certain users are trying to hide from unpleasant information need to learn the difference between a content arguement and a structural arguement. Indrian 20:14, Jan 27, 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. POV, list, original research. Jayjg  (TALK)]] 20:20, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep. Informative and valuable for research. ItisIAnonymous 20:45, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. It's not actually POV, IMO, and the fact that it's offensive isn't grounds for deletion. But I vote for deletion on the criterion that it has no potential of becoming encyclopedic. The information on this page is not informative: it is neither actionable nor interesting. --Angr 20:59, 27 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Idiocy. BSveen 22:36, Jan 27, 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.
 * Delete Several of these are not sterotypes, but rather racial slurs and unexplained associations.  Such as, 'Rag head(s)' under Arabs/Middle Eastern.  'Rag head(s)' isn't a sterotype, it's a racial slur.  'Wearing of turbans' is a sterotype.  '"They hate us" assertions.' This is meaningless without some explanation, who hates who?  Look at the Italian section.  The Guido link is irrelevant in context.  Should be geographically qualified.  Even if these issues are cleaned up, difficult to remain NPOV at best.  This will ultimately become a list of things not interesting or encyclopedic enough to warrant their own articles, and thus confusing and useless.  Consider your reaction to the proposition of adding a Racial Sterotypes section to each ethnic or national wikipedia entry.  --Paraphelion 01:55, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete. Unlike list of ethnic slurs, this has no value. Neutralitytalk 01:57, Jan 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep.Mikkalai 06:52, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete - not useful, not encylopaedic, not verifiable, impossible to present in a balanced way, and thus furthers the whole systemic bias of Wikipedia. Guettarda 17:55, 28 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * delete only useful in a specific context (who believes the stereotype) attempts at verification would make it unmanagable. Mozzerati 23:29, 2005 Jan 28 (UTC)
 * Redirect to ethnic stereotypes. humblefool 01:53, 29 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Keep--Carpetrocks 03:17, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Delete - Non-encyclopedic and a waste of space. LegitReality 20:37, 30 Jan 2005 (UTC)