The mentally ill are legally defined, if not written word then in fact, as at best 2nd class citizens. In reality, we are at most 3rd class citizens. There exists today absolutely no legal protection of any value that keeps employers and others from overt discrimination and savage harassment. Yes, there is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but it was gutted by the US Supreme Court. That has resulted in the mentally ill being at best a fringe element in American Society, open to the most savage and obscene discrimination.
We are Americans. Such blunt and outright bigotry should never be tolerated.
Why is this important?
The mentally ill are legally prevented from protecting themselves from outright bigotry and hostility everywhere in our society. I suffer from Major Depressive Disorder and General Anxiety Disorder. Unfortunately, no law, federal or state, protects me from overt and directed hostility in the work place. Not even the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission gives a damn. In effect, the EEOC is a partner of the very crimes repeated every day by employers.
25% of Americans, almost 80 million people, suffer from a mental illness. If you don't stand up, who will? What family member are you willing to sacrifice?
