So the racist tree is committing thoughtcrime by thinking things which we don't approve of or disagree with, even if he or she decides never to act upon them? I'll agree that people who fall outside of society for some reason often pretend to toe the line to prevent negative consequences. And that for idealists, as I can be, in situations invving racism, it's easy to feel that that's not enough. But you can't fucking thought control people. The realization that it's important to at least act accepting shows more maturity, insight, and care about society than a lot of bigots possess.
I think I must have mis-interpreted backtoyoujim's post. I thought s/he meant that the tree wasn't tollerant because it changed it's view(which seems like a pretty bad interpretation now) so I explained what I thought Samer meant by I agree with what you're saying though, every step in the right direction is good.not because it was tolerant,