I think that the distinction is important. Not necessarily for the purposes of punishment, but certainly for the purposes of understanding society. If we want to reduce the frequency with which we hurt one another, it's important to know why we hurt one another. Right?

And personally, overlooking the fact that making assault in general a federal crime would overwhelm the federal system, I agree that all assault, no matter the cause, is serious and should be treated and punished seriously. But I do think, pesronally, that being attacked because of things about myself I did not necessarily choose, which my attacker hates for no rational reason, would be worse than being attacked because someone wants my money or my car, or because I slept with his wife, or because I was in his way during his bank robbery.

Those things are random or caused by my own actions. Being attacked because of them would suck, and I'd hope my attacker would be brought to justice and punished. But being attacked, being targeted, simply because of the color of my skin or the god I pray to or what kind of ass I think looks good in shorts, that would feel worse to me.

(The edit was just to change a typo.)