It depends on how the laws are written. Generally speaking laws are not applied retroactively, but that is just a principle that most governments follow in applying their laws. It is entirely possible for a government to make retroactive laws if they wanted to.
Somewhat off topic is that it is not illegal to be openly racist in the US even now. There are laws against discrimination in things like business, and crimes committed due to racism might be punished more harshly, but a private person just being racist for everyone to see is perfectly legal.
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