I ain't really big in hate crimes legislation but a couple things

1) Hate crime laws originated in response to groups such as the KKK (well technically dozens of groups that called themselves KKK or Klansmen in the 60s, the national organization of the KKK didn't really exist after the 40s). Pretty much the KKK had decades upon decades of immunity for no one was willing to prosecute and if you were willing to prosecute the jury had a very large chance of not convicting. Thus making it a federal issue very much reduce the corruption/intimidation the KKK posed at the time.
2) The idea of hate crime laws isn't just to punish the crime, but to also prevent intimidation.
3) Hate crimes laws have always been perfectly fine with equal protection. This is because they are affecting all races, religions, colors, national origins, and now disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity. If someone perform a hate crime targeting a man due to his Christianity it is just as much as hate crime if the person targeted was Jewish or Muslim. Same thing if a gay man targeted a straight man for he was a stupid "breeder" or something.
4) Due to past legislative efforts the FBI tracks hate crimes, both threats of credible violence and actual

Total Hate Crime Offenses, 2007 Violent Crimes, percentage of total
Race 4,724 1,471 31%
Religion 1,477 126 9%
Sexual Orientation 1,460 695 48%
Ethnicity 1,256 497 40%
Disability 82 21 26%
TOTAL 9,006 2,810 31%
Violent crimes include: Murder and non-negligent manslaughter,forcible rape, aggravated assault, and simple assault.

So in sum in one year, 2810 actual incidents of murder, non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, aggravated assault and simple assault. That is a lot of violent acts.

A common man definition of aggravated assault is this
Aggravated assault is, in some jurisdictions, a stronger form of assault, usually using a deadly weapon.[6] A person has committed an aggravated assault when that person:

* attempts to cause serious bodily injury to another person
* causes such injury purposely, knowingly, or recklessly in circumstances where the person has exhibited indifference to human life
* attempts or causes bodily injury to another person with a deadly weapon.

So taking out mere assault and other that leaves 1127 acts of murder, rape, and attempted murder/attempting to kill somebody. PER YEAR, that is reported to the authorities.

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/oct08/hatecrime_102708.html
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2008/10/27/5249