Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Tom Yarborough


 * 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 keep. Liz Read! Talk! 23:20, 25 July 2022 (UTC)

Tom Yarborough

 * – ( View AfD View log | edits since nomination)

Mayors of places need sources to show notability. We have none here. My search for sources turned up not even one useable source. There are other Tom Yarboroughs who might merit an article, but I cannot find sourcing on this one. The only thing I found was this which is a primary document, a communication between agents of the city and people trying to force the city to change how it elects members of its city council. They mention Yarborough, but seem to be sourcing all their knowledge of him to Wikipedia. So we have no reliable secondary sources at all even confirming he was mayor, let alone the claim he was the first "black" person to be a mayor in California. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary sourcing, and so to state someone was the first African-American person to serve as mayor in California, we should have actually reliable sources that support this statement. I would not trust agents of the city to have fully vetted such a claim period, let alone when they have vested interest to argue a certain view of how non-white people fare in politics in the city, but when they are transparently sourcing such a claim only to an unsourced Wikipedia article this becomes circular reasoning. I am unconvinced that we have the expertise to determine which first X type in Y area are notable, we need multiple reliable secondary sources mentioning the person to demonstrate such an intersection is notable. Here though we only have an unsourced claim of being the first African-American mayor in California, no sourcing to show even if this fact is true, let alone that it is notable. John Pack Lambert (talk) 13:24, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Automated comment: This AfD was not correctly transcluded to the log (step 3). I have transcluded it to Articles for deletion/Log/2022 July 18.  —cyberbot I   Talk to my owner :Online 13:43, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Politicians and California.  Spiderone (Talk to Spider) 18:16, 18 July 2022 (UTC)


 * Keep. There are quite a few sources available in Google Books. He was apparently one of three black mayors elected at the same time, however, he was also possibly the first elected Black city councilman in California. The distinctions are apparently being conflated. The fact that both his election as mayor and his retirement merited mention in national Black publications suggests his importance.--Jahaza (talk) 19:04, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Additionally there's an Associated Press story about his retirement and one about his deathJahaza (talk) 19:10, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep satisfies GNG. (Dubious BEFORE)Djflem (talk) 21:06, 18 July 2022 (UTC)
 *  Weak Keep per Jahaza. Just enough WP:RS-based coverage, and historical significance, to pass the WP:GNG threshold. Sal2100 (talk) 17:40, 22 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment: Revising my !vote from "weak" to solid keep in light of the vast article improvements and comments below made by Cielquiparle. Sal2100 (talk) 16:48, 23 July 2022 (UTC)
 * Keep in light of the fact that Thomas R. Yarborough (aka T. R. Yarborough) clearly passes Wikipedia’s notability requirements. He satisfies WP:POLITICIAN as a local politician of enduring historical significance with SIGCOV in the 2022 Jefferson book (pp. 129–131) (confirming he was the first African American city councilman in California), as well as multiple in-depth articles, e.g. on the 1990 dedication of a plaque in his memory and his 1969 obituary. Although he was a local politician and civic leader in Lake Elsinore, California, he received state-wide and even national recognition as one of three African Americans to be voted as mayor in the state of California in 1966 in JET magazine, as well as a widely syndicated UPI news story. A ceremony dedicating a local park in his name when he retired was attended by the San Francisco Examiner, which noted that letters of commendation in recognition of Yarborough had been sent by Vice President Hubert Humphrey, California Governor Ronald Reagan, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. There are also numerous articles featuring interviews with Yarborough, including The Los Angeles Times article on his retirement and a 1948 article in Ebony magazine. Nominator was correct that the “first Black mayor of California” claim was wrong, but this has been fixed and addressed within the article itself now. Cielquiparle (talk) 13:55, 23 July 2022 (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.