Professor of Education and Social Policy Gary A. Orfield said America has regressed since the civil rights era of the 1960s, adding that subtler forms of hate need to be addressed.

"Everyone's against church-burning. Everyone's against someone being killed and dragged down a highway. Violence is the extreme in a spectrum," Orfield said.

Other panelists included Professor of the Practice of Indo-Muslim Languages and Culture Ali S. A. Asani; Lisa D. Cook, a research fellow at the Center for International Development; Professor of Government Michael J. Sandel; Professor of Education Marcelo Suarez-Orozco; and Wong, the Harvard Foundation's Student Advisory Committee co-chair.

Some panelists shared personal anecdotes. Cook, who is black, told a story from her family's history.

Her grandfather, a pastor in Georgia in 1943, was approached by one of his parishioners for help confronting his landlord, whose sons were attacking the parishioner's daughters. The parishioner was later found decapitated.

Asani pointed out the religious facet of hate crimes, saying that following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing of a federal building, Muslims in America were frequently the targets of hate crimes. Following the bombing incident, many unfairly assumed that the perpetrator was Islamic or Arabic, Asani said.

And here at Harvard, Asani said he has also encountered stereotypes. He recounted a discussion with a graduate student who asked how he could believe in Islam.