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Sears Roebuck has agreed to stop selling a T-shirt with “offensive” wording: “You should hear the NAMES the VOICES in my head are calling you.” The Maryland-based National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (slogan: “The Nation’s Voice on Mental Illness”) claims the shirt “mocks” mental illness, and may expose retailers to liability due to anti-discrimination laws. “The T-shirt perpetuates prejudice and discrimination against people with mental illnesses through the intimation of threats flowing from auditory hallucinations,” says NAMI’s legal director, Ron Honberg. “They reinforce an unfair perception of violence.” (Reuters) ...Why assume the “names” are violent, rather than “honey” or “sweetie”? Maybe they’re paranoid?
Available in This is True: Book Collection Vol. 9