Silly civil rights laws

A few days ago I read a fairly long article which looked at a case in which people were charged with bullying behaviours which contributes to a girl's suicide. I was rather annoyed at the following section (and the law underlying it):

The most serious charge against five of the teenagers—Sean, Ashley Longe, Kayla Narey, Sharon Chanon Velazquez, and Flannery Mullins—is civil rights violation with bodily injury. Defense lawyers expect Scheibel to argue that Phoebe’s civil rights were violated because she was called an “Irish slut”—a denigration of her national origin

Is there really such a big difference between calling someone "a slut" as opposed to "an Irish slut"?

(In turns of silly civil rights laws, I'm similarly critical of the "affirmative action" stuff that the federal Liberals in Canada are currently defending).