Sure. So, the FBI's stats were once pointed out to me [1]:
* Property theft (like burglary, larceny-theft and motor vehicle theft):
$16 billion/year
* Telemarketing fraud:
$40 billion/year
Clearly, things are blown out of proportion. Some people actually argue that drug punishments should be greater for poor people than the wealthier, as is currently the case, since an executive isn't committing other crimes. (While for poor people, drugs are a "gateway crime" which lead to others.) Basically, punishing poor people for crimes they didn't commit -- punishments which those with privilege escape.
> However, using dergatory terms like 'racist' toward
> peopl ewho merely hold negative stereoptypes - which
> is a natural part of human cognition - does not seem a
> very constructive - it merely puts people on the
> defensive and makes them less receptive to any
> information that may challenge their stereotypes.
"Racist" has a meaning. If someone uses that "natural part of human cognition", as you put it, they should be honest enough to admit those conclusions have an element of racism. To do otherwise is holding oneself to a lower standard. If they don't like the label, they can blame the real INSTITUTIONAL racism which accounts for these perceptions.
Unpleasant to look in the mirror.
Tayssir
-- [1] http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/offenses_reported/property_crime/index.html http://www.fbi.gov/page2/oct04/telfraud100604.htm
Note that forceful robbery accounts for about half a billion dollars, according to the FBI in the first link.