A story recently published in The Oregonian featured a picture of a poor, Hispanic woman pulling a cart with bags that will hold the groceries she will pay for with food stamps. Missing from the story was the woman’s, Lesli Calderon, ethnicity and legal status. The story garnered many responses from readers ranging from accusations that the woman was illegal and wasting government resources to sympathy for the woman and pledges to help.

Susan Gaige, a managing editor for The Oregonian, dismissed claims that ethnicity was in any way a valid point in the story, which focused on nutrition and ability to get groceries in low-income neighborhoods. Said Gaige:

“Whether she’s white, Latino, Russian or African American doesn’t matter — it has nothing to do with her ethnicity.”

However, we will point out, the original story refers to “low-income and minority families” several times, as well as to the fact that Calderon “muses” in Spanish, and at one point even references a 2002 study about what African Americans eat. In this particular example, it seems that, regardless of her last name, her ethnicity and the ethnicity of people in low-income areas were significantly hinted at.

Another example concerning whether to include ethnicity in stories deals with crime suspects. The Dallas Morning News requires that enough physical traits be described in order to help identify suspects. If the description is too vague, the paper may not print it.

But, really, does describing someone as 5’10 and Latino help catch a robber? How does a witness to a crime know you are Latino unless you mused out loud in Spanish or you told him your last name? What if you’re a woman and your married name is Hispanic but you’re an Inuit? You’re brown and a Guerrero. If you rob an acquaintance who doesn’t know your full ethnic background, will you be described as a short Latina in The Dallas Morning News crime blotter?

And this raises a more important question: If we leave out ethnicity, how do we describe people? Is it okay to describe someone as “white”, “brown”, “black”, or “yellowish from lack of sun but not Asian”? So many opinion columns, so few answers.

Include ethnicity or leave it out? [The Oregonian]