Federal hate crime law grew over decades. The Civil Rights Act of 1968 made it a crime to use force to interfere with someone's federally protected activities because of race, religion or national origin. The Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990 required the FBI to collect data. The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 expanded protections to include sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.
In 2023, law enforcement agencies reported 11,862 hate crime incidents to the FBI, the highest number on record. Anti-Black incidents were the largest single category, at 3,027. The official count is far too low because many agencies do not report and many victims do not go to police. The Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated about 246,900 hate crime victimizations a year from 2005 to 2019.
As of 2025, South Carolina and Wyoming were the only states without a state hate crime law. ARD's view is that penalties alone do not prevent hate violence. Prevention also depends on countering the rhetoric and organizing that drive it.