Anti-Asian violence can’t be blamed on Trump supporters

The horrific murder of eight people on Tuesday, victims mostly of Asian descent, has spurred a national conversation about rising violence against Asian Americans. The sole suspect is a troubled 21-year-old white man from Georgia.

This mass shooting may not be racially motivated: The killer seems to have been motivated by a sexual addiction and mental health problems. Still, as anti-Asian crimes have risen across the country, blue check marks on Twitter have placed the blame on former President Donald Trump and white supremacy. That the Left seems to need to blame every ailment of society at the feet of white people, conservatives, and Trump himself lacks any form of seriousness. While there are some violent perpetrators who are white, conservative, or Trump supporters, FBI statistics suggest that most anti-Asian violence has come from black perpetrators. Refusing to look at these statistics represents a refusal to take seriously the lives and security of Asian Americans.

According to the Justice Department, 27.5% of all violent crimes against Asian Americans in 2018 were committed by black people. That’s over 50,000 incidents in a single year. White criminals and Asian criminals each accounted for 24.1% of all attacks on Asians. Asian people, similar to their white counterparts, are underrepresented in violent crimes committed to the proportion of the population they make up. In 2019, Asians made up 6.2% of the population but just 1% of the perpetrators of violent crime. White people are 62% of the population but commit 50% of violent crimes.

This bears note in light of the Left’s narrative that white Trump supporters are propelled toward violence against Asian Americans because of xenophobia, racism, and Trump’s usage of “China virus” when speaking about the coronavirus. The narrative falls apart very quickly when observing the data.

Some left-wing outlets such as Vox have claimed that interracial violence between black and Asian people is a consequence of white supremacy. While being ridiculous at face value, it’s also unverifiable, which likely is the point. If you can’t disprove something based on data, then you can perpetuate the narrative. The same liberals who’ve said that white supremacy is to blame for anti-Asian crime are also some of the same people who have said Asians are white-adjacent and benefit from white privilege.

But we should note that the progressive war on merit has made Asian Americans a constant target. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Education Department sponsored a panel in 2019 to discuss how Asians benefit from white privilege. The Washington Post has published multiple op-eds suggesting that Asian success is due to white people no longer being racist toward them. The founder of the 1619 Project has repeatedly claimed that Asians receive special benefits from being white-adjacent.

Put simply, the Left has said the worst element plaguing society is white privilege. It has then made Asian Americans an accomplice to the crime. We might also note that recent high-profile crimes against Asian Americans have been committed in extremely liberal and Democratic-controlled cities and counties. There was the beating of a laundromat employee in San Francisco, the deadly assault of an 84-year-old in San Francisco, the fatal attack against a 75-year-old Asian American in Oakland, an 89-year-old woman being set on fire in Brooklyn by a pair of teenagers, the stabbing of a 36-year-old worker in Manhattan, and the murder of an 83-year-old in White Plains, New York. None of these locations could be described as “MAGA” country.

A serious nation would look at these trends. Data, anecdotal evidence, and socioeconomic developments all point to a multifaceted explanation and solution behind this terrible crime wave. Sadly, that’s a less politically correct option than to blame white supremacy.