I think everyone should read this post over at Pam’s House Blend.  It’s anecdotally factual and makes a critically important point.

So that’s my lesson in tolerance for the New Year — you won’t get tolerance until you demand it, and you won’t be tolerated until you are seen. For some here, it’s coming out of the closet. For me, it’s proudly standing up as a cannabis consumer. For others, it may be letting your friends or co-workers know you don’t appreciate the racist or sexist or homophobic joke. Whatever the issue, it is much easier for people to be hateful and intolerant when the “they” is an unknown, shadowy, distant figure. When the “they” is someone they know, love, play, or work with, stereotypes fail and prejudices fade.