Will the pandemic inevitably lead to scapegoating?
Does something deep in our psychology lead us to blame others for our misery.
Just as the black death led to violent anti-semitism are we bound to see similar hatreds today?
Many say yes.
But this is wrong.
Dangerously wrong.

For sure you can look around and find examples of scapegoating and horrific violence.
The black death is an example.
On one day, St. Valentine's day 1349, some 2,000 Jewish people burnt to death.
But these are more the exception than the rule...

Look at the evidence in the round from antiquity to modernity and you find, as Cohn concludes, that "epidemics more often brought societies together rather than dividing them". It is simply wrong to say that 'human nature' drives us to hate in a pandemic https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4422154/

It confuses a human tendency to find meaning in events, with a particular narrative of events. There is no inherent psychological reason we should conclude 'it was their fault' as opposed to 'we are being punished for our sins' or 'we have distorted our relationship with nature'

Most importantly such 'human nature' claims obscure the role of leadership in promoting blame narratives and mobilising hatred. Indeed leaders themselves like to psychologise hate precisely in order to deflect from their own responsibility for creating it (as we argue here )

If you want to understand the scapegoating of east asians and the rise of hate cries against them in the US (and the UK) don't let 'human nature' write out Donald Trump's incessant reference to the Chinese virus.

But, to finish on a note of optimism, if scapegoating and hatred are contingent on social practice rather than inscribed in human nature, it means that we can unmake them as well as make them. We have the freedom of choice - and also the burden of responsibility.