For the record, I read that article, and far from accepting their behavior, Britain sentenced those guys to between 10 and 29 years, not exactly easy on rapists on the other side of the pond, it seems. Unless you think three decades in Brixton would be a real picnic.
But to the bigger point, I tend to agree somewhat, and have always had a problem with "hate crimes". I mean, murder is murder, if you get convicted, you most likely get life or one hell of a long time, that seems like life. I have read that the justification is that hate crimes are crimes against an entire group, not just an individual, and so you need enhanced punishment to merit the crime. I don't know, I just have a hard time buying it. And I suspect you are right in that the term is applied far more to white people than black, although a crime against a gay person is also a hate crime. Just a real hard legal concept for me to accept.