TO SAY THAT bigotry, even in its extreme forms, is firmly established in American society is not to say that bigotry goes unanswered by society's institutions. People who are motivated by bigotry to commit crimes of violence or intimidation are subject to prosecution under various criminal laws and sometimes under special hate-crimes laws as well. Bigotry-inspired actions that fall short of criminal violations can often also be addressed by legal means, particularly by noncriminal, or civil, lawsuits.

Sometimes, as in the case of criminal prosecution of a person who assaults another out of racial hatred, the legal system's role is clear: to hold the criminal accountable for his or her violent actions. In other instances, such as when an employer engages in blatant discrimination against an employee on account of race, legal remedies exist to give that employee his or...