Vanster, you're a well traveled and extremely educated man.
Yes, quite. /me settles back into his leather chair, tugs on moustache and frowns purposefully while swirling his glass of cognac.
Ahem.
For real: As a science guy, I've been interested in the statistics on race, poverty, and crime. When placed into a very precise rubric, statistics hucksters can show that crime has a greater correlation coefficient to poverty than it does race. Ok, fine. It can also be shown that crime has a correlation coefficient with education than it does race (it's actually approaching 1.0). The problem of course is that these stats are propounded by hucksters as proof that race has nothing to do with either, and the entire thing is rubbish. As long as you keep crime as the independent variable, I don't think there is any bastardization of statistics that can show race as statistically insignificant anymore. As long as you're looking at more than one model, and are allowed to manipulate d.f. as you like, it's obvious to anybody that race is a factor, and it's very probable that race, poverty and crime are positively correlated.
The problem, as I see it, is that more research needs to be done on this.
James Watson has suggested numerous times that more research needs to be done on this, and he's been completely blacklisted from the scientific community for suggesting it. The co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, a pioneer in the framework for everything from stem-cell research to immunology and cancer has been blacklisted--simply by suggesting we study something. Unbelievable.
As a Northern Arapaho that also is aware of history, I can say that unwarranted racism is a real thing--believe it or not, there are some very stupid white people in the world, and racism is something that is very easy to grab onto because it's one of the most basic distinctions we can make--and it has affected me in ways they can't possibly appreciate or understand.
Cliffs:
There needs to be a lot more research and study on all aspects of us--and race is one of those.