Nonconformity in American Law and Life: How Much Do We Really Value Diversity?

Abstract

Most Americans believe that we are by and large a highly tolerant nation that welcomes and tolerates a wide array of geniuses, nonconformists, eccentrics, and crackpots. This myth holds that this quality is a strong point of our liberal tradition because nonconformists often turn out to be geniuses who make major contributions to the arts, science, and other works of life. Using examples drawn from a number of areas, including a wall of portraits at a university museum (Magic Realism), this Essay shows that our tolerance for deviance is much more limited than we like to think; instead, the myth of forbearance allows us to enforce harsh limits on social deviance while believing ourselves entirely justified in doing so.

Keywords: tolerance, myth of forbearance, social deviance, critical legal studies