Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Russian Americans

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, such a common ethnicity means the article escapes WP:NOT#IINFO ELIMINATORJR 18:09, 4 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

List of Russian Americans

First of all, it's painful to have a list which includes both Vladimir Nabokov and Debra Messing. Anyway, for the same reasons at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of English Americans (2nd nomination), Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/List of Norwegian Americans, etc. etc. Bulldog123 03:07, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Weak keep I understand the rationale for deletion, but I'm not convinced. If all the items on the list are blue links and are referenced, that's good enough to spare the axe. Shalom ^Hello 03:33, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Comment I've already spoken on a few of these - keep only with strict requirement, first generation or second generation, both parents first generation. Otherwise, Delete. I do think Nabokov wouldn't mind - he had a wicked sense of humor. The references don't do it for me - one on another page was "father's grandfather was German". That's a citation, but the guy is not "German-American". Wikipedia requires explicit definitions for lists - these lists have none as of yet. MarkinBoston 03:37, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Look at the reference keeping James Franco on the list. He says, taken in pieces, "I'm Russian" even though he's apparently a quarter Russian (and perhaps, not even, as who knows what Russian was defined as during that ancestor's time). The sources are very WP:SYNTH-like. They're not showing cohesion. It makes it seem even more like a bad assortment of articles based on seemingly non-notable standards. Could you really have a sentence next to each name that says why having a Russian grandfather is notable? Bulldog123 03:42, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Comment Having a Russian grandfather, or being Russian, is not notable. Being Russian-American, or the child of Russian-Americans, would be required to get you on the list. Then, you would also have to be notable. I can imagine a school assignment: "Write an essay on xxx-Americans". This would be a good resource, as long as the list is accurate. To be accurate, you need an explicit rule for getting on the list. MarkinBoston 04:32, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Delete Save one, it is entirely blue linked, so that silly argument doesn't apply. Delete because of overcategorization in the list. i ^said 03:49, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Delete per User:MarkinBoston. Having a minute amount of Russian in you would warrant your inclusion into a list like this, and thus making it loosely associated. Categorize if needed Corpx
Keep The nomination is incomplete. However, if that's it, then "it's painful" and "for the same reasons as" something else are not valid reasons for a nomination. Sorry, what magic words do I invoke now, WP:NOMINATION or WP:DELETE? I think WP:AFD will take me back to start. Even after the nomination is fixed, however, I would refer to the sourcing and editing. It's odd... all these "Blank-Americans" articles seem to be written by the same person, and nominated for deletion by the same person. Mandsford 20:44, 26 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Delete per above, far too loose a connection for a list. Oh, and for the record, it would appear that James Franco's mother is of entirely Russian Jewish descent. However, that still casts doubt about his listing here - her family wouldn't have really been seen as Russian by the Russians, or by themselves, back in the day. Whole different culture, ethnicity, and language that non-Jewish Russians. Mad Jack 18:41, 27 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Strong keep all - encyclopedic and needed for our users. Contribute constructively, not destructively, to our project, and do not WP:POINT disruptively propose this article for deletion again, thanks. Badagnani 02:57, 28 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Keep both and discuss who gets included on the talk page for the article. Ethnicity is not too loose a connection for a list. In a sense, the most important connection between people, as judged by themselves. The descriptions of the people could not be done in categories, which would just be a list of articles. This is much more than a list of articles. DGG (talk) 01:15, 29 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Keep. A notable notion. Classification not POV. `'Míkka 01:54, 30 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Keep per above reasoning. —dima /talk/ 01:10, 1 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Keep They're both very useful to Wikipedia readers. I agree that there should be an explanation as to why these people "made" it on either list, and the categories would take care of the rest.--Riurik^(discuss) 02:40, 3 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

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.