debating democracy

Letter to the editor

To The Editor:

Marcia Drezon-Tepler says, “The Democrats who lost the election [are] making a lot of noise, showing up with a lot of participants in demonstrations, but that’s not how we operate in the United States. We’re a democracy. The people’s voice is from an election, not from mobs that appear in the streets” (“West Side Republicans Talk Trump, Issues,” Mar. 16).

I do not know whether to laugh or cry at the astounding ignorance and dismissiveness of this statement. Setting aside for a moment the hypocrisy here (anti-Obama protests began the day after he was elected to his first term) — and the facts that the election itself may have been fraudulent (vis-à-vis the “Russian connection”) and that Ms. Clinton won the popular vote by over 3 million — Ms. Drezon-Tepler is apparently woefully lacking in her knowledge of American history. Although it is true that elections and legislation are the “formal” ways in which laws and changes occur, almost every major change was preceded by protests and demonstrations. This includes child labor laws, women’s right to vote, civil rights legislation, and LGBT rights, among others. It is “movements” like these that preceded and/or worked “hand-in-glove” with legislators to create those laws. If “democracy” is about “the people,” then “the people’s voice” is relevant whether it is through elections or through demonstrations.

Ian Alterman

Upper West Side