The fact that the FBI keeps separate statistics on "hate crimes" - crimes motivated by biases based on race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/ national origin, and disability - is a recognition of the distinction from other crimes of the same nature.
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2005/index.html
I dont know that hate crime legislation is the answer, but it is important to recognize the fact such bigotry is still a serous social problem.