There is a lot of violence in America period. This is something I think a lot of people fail to recognize, especially gun violence. That’s why gun control is such a hotly debated topic here.
People are looking at the victims, and that’s important - mostly Asian women. The discrimination that both women and minorities face are because of issues with social justice and white privilege. And, yes, Trump definitely contributed to that, on purpose, to mobilize political support. The racism and sexism was already there - he just opened the wounds more to take advantage.
But, who we should mostly be looking at are the perpetrators. In gun violence, the statistics are pretty clear - mostly white males of various ages. It is more a reflection of white rage than hostile racism, which is an important distinction.
If a person is targeted by a group for their race, gender, or sexuality, that is a hostile hate crime. Matthew Shepherd is an excellent example, who was beaten to death for being gay. In these cases, it is a mentality (by the perpetrators) that the individual inspired the crime with their behavior, that makes them different.
When white rage happens, a person takes out their anger on random strangers of a group. They’re both hate crimes, but the psychology of the criminal is different. In white rage cases, the perpetrator is more indifferent to their victims, feeling entitled by their own privilege, to take out their anger on anyone they deem to be the cause of their problems. They blame the entire group rather than singling out one individual.
White rage rises when the rights of minorities increases to the point when it begins to be felt by the majority. The most threatened individuals are those with the most social power, especially if it’s one of their only claims to privilege. This means that poorer and less advantaged white males are probably more prone to white rage than white women or men with greater means.
Although, individual psychology and upbringing also comes into play. If a person accumulates wealth but still has a blue collar mentality, they may also be more sensitive to shifts in power, feeling that their status is less stable. Also, sociopaths may be inclined to be inspired or take advantage of mass shooter trends for their own fame or motives (Las Vegas shooter).
In some ways, I do think the origin of the coronavirus is just an excuse to express rage toward Asians by the perpetrators. An educated person knows there are number of factors that led to this pandemic, including a spread from China, but that doesn’t make it China’s or any Asian person’s fault. It could have originated anywhere, and failure of health policies is the main cause.
The main cause of gun violence in America is white rage (and sexism) and the ubiquitousness of guns here. There are always going to be bad people that use politics and social inequality as excuses to commit crimes. And, yes, even without guns. But, we just make it so easy for them. Why?
I also just wanted to add that class inequality is a big reason, too. I said the increased rights of minorities, but this could be relative when the middle class is getting smaller, and the upper class is further away. In other words, the minorities are just a scapegoat for increasing class divide.