(8-21-19) Dear Pete,
Would you be kind enough to share this edited version of an Op Ed that I published in USA Today?
It calls on policy makers to reject false connections between mass murder and mental health conditions and to take on meaningful gun control legislation, a commitment that the White House is now walking back (see Jonathan Capehart’s passionate piece in the Washington Post.)
My original submission used different language in several places, called for the rejection of discriminatory mental health data bases that advance surveillance based on the unfounded threat we pose and emphasized that:
“it’s a lot easier to focus on us than on the complex social factors that contribute to mass murder in America, the political divide, racism, economic inequality and hopelessness and the lack of political will to pass common sense gun control laws. At the same time, our political leaders in the White House, Congress and State Houses must make it explicitly clear that promising Red Flag’ laws and Extreme Risk Protection Orders are not intended to target any one group like ours, but extend to all and everyone who has access to guns and who is deemed to pose a danger to themselves or others.”
Thank you, Harvey Rosenthal
Don’t Scapegoat, Institutionalize People Like Me After Shootings
By Harvey Rosenthal USA Today Opinion Contributor
I was first diagnosed with bipolar illness more than 40 years ago, after a six-week stay in the psychiatric unit of a Long Island, New York, community hospital. I entered into a personal process of recovery and, five years later, began my life’s work as a ward aide at a New York State Psychiatric Center in Albany and ultimately as an advocate for people like me.
