Talk:Carole Boston Weatherford

Failed GA nomination

Funny how GA nominations with comments on how great the article usually indicate pretty poor articles and it seems that the more daring the claim the worse the article is, like in this case.

I am failing this article first and foremost because it absolutely fails the "staying focused" (3b) and "broad in coverage" (3c) criteria of WP:WIAGA. The article only barely touches on the person, bo expands on some incidents involving her, which would be better dealt with (and apparently are) in individual articles on characters and brands she took offence with. I guess that the entirety of the article in its current state (but the first paragraph) should be summed in one sentence stating that she often raises such issues and enumerating examples.

On the other hand, with the description of her photo (btw, missing fair use rationale and likely to be contested) stating that she is "award-winning", I would be eager to know what awards are those and what for. If she has really won some major awards, there is certainly much more to be written about her and her works. OTOH, I do not exclude the possibility that she is only notable due to her comments on the issues listed, and then I would not be convinced she passes the notability criteria for even being included in the encyclopedia.

All in all, please write a really good article about a poet and writer named Carole Boston Weatherford, and not her comments, and then perhaps nominate it for GA. PrinceGloria 23:57, 20 May 2007 (UTC)

I agree. There's a new essay called WP:COATRACK condeming the existence of articles in which slender factual data is used to support critical information. This article has long been a target of Pokemon fans who apparently resent the subject's campaign on that topic. It's better than it has been, but it's still basically a coatrack for criticism. As I recall, there are no profiles on her on the Internet, and the awards listed on her private webpage are minor. Should we merge the Pokemon-related stuff to Jynx and Pokemon (and watching those for NPOV). Minus that topic the subject might not meet our article standards and should probably be considered for deletion. Or, maybe some good sources on her other activities will show up. ·:· Will Beback ·:· 06:13, 28 June 2007 (UTC)

Anti-Asian bigotry?

While Ms. Weatherford is generally regarded as anti-racist, the overall tone of her articles re: Pokemon seem to suggest that she herself harbors some bigotry against Asians. Has anyone ever criticized her for this?

Quite plainly, I don't know how anyone in their right mind would think that the resemblance of Jynx to American racist caricatures was anything other than an unfortunate coincidence. Pokemon is a Japanese game, not an American one, and Japan shares none of America's tragic racial past.

The phenomenon of anti-Asian bigotry in the African-American community appears to be real, but it (along with anti-Semitism) has been denounced by Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison and President Barack Obama. Could it be that Carole Weatherford is herself bigoted against Asians? Judging by the abrasive and "assume-bad-faith" tone of her editorials on Pokemon, I would have to say yes. She didn't even consider the possibility (or rather, the 99+% probability), that the similarity between Jynx and racist caricatures was simply, as I said before, an unfortunate coincidence. That sounds like prejudice--"pre-judging"--to me. Right now the article doesn't include any criticism of Weatherford, although given her abrasive tone and opinions, I'm sure there has been at least some over the years. The article needs to be more balanced, with both pro- and anti-Weatherford sources, as is appropriate for such a controversial person.

I consider myself to be as anti-racist as anyone could possibly be; I absolutely abhor prejudice of all kinds, but I have to say, from what I've read about Ms. Weatherford, I'm definitely not a fan of hers. People with opinions like hers only make racism and racial problems worse, even though they might not intend to. Stonemason89 (talk) 19:07, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

What you say may be true, but Wikipedia operates by summarizing verifiable material from reliable sources. So unless this view has been expressed by a journaloist or scholar, we can't include it in the article.   Will Beback  talk  21:28, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

• I totally agree with you that Weatherford's works seem to habor her Anti-Asian thoughts. In the article, Politically Incorrect Pokemon, I strongly believe that she is viewing Asians as a group instead of individuals. She was trying to phrase past Asian history in order to support her thoughts on why Asians are against African Americans, which I do not believe it's true, nor the right thing to do. Her actions would only cause more racism problems, as she had grouped Black people in a group and Asian people in a group. This can be viewed that she has distinction and preference, which both are in the UN's definition of racism. The core of anti-racism should be NOT viewing people in groups, but as individuals.

One example is, she wrongly points the Cantonese name of Darlie Toothpaste is offensive, whilst in reality, the phrase is perfectly neutral. She then continued with some Asian History that I had never heard of. I do not know where to find citation to support my views because I myself am Asian and brought up in Asia.

I ALSO agree with you, that she had seek no research to proof that Jynx is/were really a racial stereotype. Her judgment was only by Jynx's looks, which may not be accurate. We've seen examples in real life, whales look like fish, but are not fish. I personally think that this is completely unfair to Pokemon. There was no proof, at all. She only said, "For Jynx, there is no argument."

I highly doubt the quality of her articles, and I wonder why she could get so much attention with them. Probably it is due to her strong use of very negative terms, which drived attention, rather than the quality of her writing, nor the research she had done to support her views.

And sorry, I forgot how to print my signature. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jynx (talk • contribs) 01:08, 27 July 2009 (UTC)