My intuition tells me you're right. My intuition also tells me that a big part of the reason people are so focused on it is that it gives them a reason to hate

My intuition tells me you're right. My intuition also tells me that a big part of the reason people are so focused on it is that it gives them a reason to hate on their out-group. The reason I feel this is because when you encounter someone engaging in "group <x> is bad because <y>" type of behavior, and you ask them how they know(!) that <y> is true, they rarely have an answer, and they get even angrier.