Letters: Choosing to defend democracy; ‘Peace cars’ instead of police cars?

Choosing to defend democracy

In 1973, I lived in Santiago, Chile. It was a very hard year: The U.S., Chile’s largest trading partner, had cut Chile off from all economic ties. The freely elected socialist government struggled to keep the economy afloat and there were shortages of basic foods, spare parts, and many other necessities.

The level of strife and division was even higher than it is here, but most Chileans were confident that they could muddle through and the Socialists and Christian Democrats would work out compromises. Chile had been one of the very few stable democracies in Latin America for a long, long time.

First, there were ultra-right militia groups, then demonstrations in the streets put down by the ever more violent national police with water canons and tear gas, and then on Sept. 11, 1973, the military attacked the presidential palace with tanks and bombed it from jets. It was 17 years before their dictatorship was defeated in a plebiscite.

When I see the videos of Portland of unidentified men in camouflage with military weapons, clubs and tear gas, men who were sent by Trump without the approval of the local or state governments of Oregon, I cannot help but remember the years of violence in Chile.

Chileans were as sure of their democracy as we are of ours. And ours is as fragile now as theirs was then. We can choose to defend it or watch it erode further under four more years of Trump.

‘Peace cars’ instead of police cars?

On a recent Saturday morning in State College, a police car passed slowly by my home. Because of the current furor in our country around social injustices, I gave this car my careful attention, noting its bulky size and the word, “Police,” in thick black letters, on the door. I also noted a tightening in my neck and jaw.

Though I have never experienced abuse from a police officer, just the sight of a police car, these days, triggers tension in me and I know that I am not alone in this. This leads me to wonder what would happen if police cars had an altogether different appearance. For example, rather than being large and bulky, what if they were smaller in size; and rather than being black and white, what if they were painted in a rainbow of colors, conjuring the remarkable racial and ethnic diversity of our country. Finally, rather than marked with the word, “Police”, what if these cars announced their purpose with words like “peace keepers” or “community builders,” reminding police officers of a larger mission.

Of course, it would be easy to dismiss these suggestions, calling them silly or unrealistic, but appearances do matter; something as simple as changing the outside appearance of our police cars might act to calm the tensions, now dividing police officers and citizens, nationwide.

We could test this proposition right here in Centre County by replacing police cars, one at a time, with peace cars. If not now, when?