Gboren,
I vehemently disagree.
Their ethnicity has a great deal to do with "information necessary to help the reader spot a scam."
Should one pursue a purchase through Audiogon (or any other board) the possibly may arise for the buyer to talk with the seller by phone. And if the buyer has been apprised of a scam that is being run by a particular group of people, if the buyer recognizes an accent, this one piece of information alone may be the difference between being taken for thousands of dollars or walking away.
Certainly an accent is not an indictment of the seller, but it is just one more piece of information the buyer processes to help make a decision. And if the seller is unwilling to accept a phone call, then that should certainly raise an eyebrow, as well.
When I was a police officer and later an investigator, I ran across people like you who were always screaming about political correctness. It always seemed funny to me that some people are more concerned about the "feelings" of a group of people than the misfortune of the victim.
Next time you are scammed or you are robbed and beaten, when you call the police, make sure you say nothing about the person's race, color or national origin. It might hurt someone's feelings or reflect poorly on a particular group.
Better yet, don't even call the police. Just call your PC friends and commiserate about how the criminal wasn't to blame, but rather, "it was society's fault because he was labeled or discriminated against."
Audiogon is a great service to all of us and *any*, let me repeat, *any* information, that is available helps make it easier when purchasing equipment from a seller one doesn't know.
Warren
