It seems you are saying several things here I'll try and take them one at a time--
--Many conservatives say the word "American" shouldn't be hyphenated---
Perhaps a misnomer of sorts. My guess is more than a punctuation problem, Its really about having allegiences. I think most conservatives don't like it when people prioritize allegiences to their race, ethnicity, etc before that of being Americans.
--and call leftists "racist" because they categorize people into specially-protected racial groups.---
IMO its not necessarily racist to categorize people into racial groups. But what is generally objected to is the government bestowing a priveledged status to some groups and not others.
--They triumph individualism and personal accountability.--
I expect, but I don't see how that contradicts the above
--But, then they themselves want to classify people by race for crime and IQ.--
I think we have to live in the real world. Even though are slightly fuzzy. The concepts of IQ, race, exist. And we should accept that and deal with it.
WHile on the other hand be careful not to forget that other things exist as well. In general:
Blacks live in urban areas more often than whites (crime is more prevalent in urban areas). Blacks are more likely to be in lower socioeconomic classes (crime is more prevalent in lower socioeconomic classes). Blacks also have a younger population (crime is most prevalent in males aged 18 to 25) etc.
Any or all of which may be part of the larger picture.
IMO its not necessarily racist to categorize people into racial groups. But what is generally objected to is the government bestowing a priveledged status to some groups and not others.I agree that it's not necessarily racist for individuals to categorize people. But, when the gov't adopts official categories of people, it's either institutionalized racism or, at the very least, a misguided effort (IMO).
I expect, but I don't see how that contradicts the above.
You're right that triumphing individualism and personal accountability doesn't contradict the position that the gov't shouldn't classify people by race for affirmative action and so on. But, then supporting the gov't in classifying people by race for crime statistics is a contradiction. The Left has its own contradictions which I don't need to mention here (everyone knows them). But, I did want to point out that one rather frustrating contradiction on the Right.
I agree that geographical area, socioeconomic class, and age are all factors to be considered. But, "race" is so subjective. It is dependant mainly on the individual's own self-definition or on others to define an individual based on appearances that cannot be altered (skin color and facial features). What I'm saying is that "race" is not purely based on genetic construction. It is more a product of socialization, as far as I can tell.
Let's put it this way: A "national origin" category for immigrants might provide accurate information. A newly-sworn American can tell us the country from which he emigrated. But, terms like "black" and "white" are merely social - not genetic. I remember reading that approx. 75% of "African-Americans" can trace their roots back to Europe, but most probably just check-off the "black" box on the Census.