This writing is the Keynote Speech delivered at the Stetson Law Review’s April 2018 symposium on the Author’s book, Animus: A Brief Introduction to Bias in the Law (2017). The speech makes the case for celebrating the Supreme Court’s embrace of the equal protection “animus” doctrine. It argues that the doctrine provides courts with a vehicle by which they can respond directly and candidly to some of the maladies currently afflicting American society and politics. It argues that it can play this role in a way that more closely connects modern equal protection law to its historical aspirations. At the same time, it cautions that animus should not become an all‐purpose argument for equal protection plaintiffs. Nevertheless, when confined to its proper sphere, animus doctrine can constitute a positive contribution to the evolution of American equality law. The speech argues for continued scholarly engagement with the animus idea, to help create a doctrine that can both realize this potential but also remain limited to its appropriate sphere.