Tolerance vs. Acceptance

I participate in New Trier's High Five Choir, which is a school choir mixing students from the general education population, and students from the special education population at New Trier. One of the main ideas that we stress in that choir is Acceptance, not Tolerance. A simple Dictionary.com definition of tolerance is this: a fair, objective, and permissive attitude toward those whose opinions, practices, race, religion, nationality, etc., differ from one's own. Another definition from that same website is: The act or capacity of enduring, endurance. Endurance. Endurance is a concept that I believe many American's are all too comfortable with. For example, in terms of sexuality, many people state that they "tolerate"or "endure" gay marriage. Or on the same lines, many people "tolerate" interracial marriage. But instead of tolerating, why is it so hard for people to simply accept?  In High Five we discuss how acceptance is key because instead of just learning to tolerate someone who differs from you, it is so much easier to just accept them for who they are. Instead of criticizing someone's differences, why not embrace them?
Now this is much easier said than done. Clearly people as a whole cannot change their opinions overnight and learn to accept certain things that they once found difficult to endure. But it brings up a good question: Will people in America ever be able to accept all people and idea's, rather than simply tolerate them?