Why are kids with autism easy targets for bullies?

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Because of the xenophobic human brain, we're "different" to them therefore we become a prime target. It's okay to hurt people not in your own tribe. Plus when I was a kid anyways I was very quiet and naive.

Bullying persists because it is rewarded with social status and sex, so people that can be bullied are a very valuable resource. When an animal looks for a resource, it looks for the most easily available resource. This just happens to be people that are vulnerable and not likely to strike back, which both applies to people with autism.

NT accept bullying as normal behaviour as the vast majority of themselves have too participated in it. To denounce bullying is to paint themselves as wicked so only the innocent few will do this.

Bullies are very attuned to recognizing who they can get away with bullying. I.e. A socially isolated person with low status, since people are less likely to care or believe what happens to such a person.

I agree that on some semi-conscious level people like the existence of bullying, since if it isn't them out their kid them they aren't at the bottom of the social heap. "It's good for me if someone else is the designated loser." And that's why it's usually ignored, even if there are explicit policies that are supposed to prevent that from happening.