When all is said and done in this election, I hope that we as Latinos in New Jersey can come together again.  I hope that this past election year has been a learning experience and not one which drives a nail in the coffin of unity.  Many of us, including myself, have had our feelings hurt and others have been attacked mercilessly by the media and other Latinos.  This election has proven to be a test of our will to stand together while acknowledging that we all have faults,  and shown that many in our community would sacrifice themselves for causes they strongly believe in.

Education is a great example of an issue that this year has caused great animosity among people who a year ago were brothers and sisters.  We fight for the side that we know in our hearts will be best for our Latino children.  Some will attack anyone who disagrees with their side.  They will attack anyone who agrees with what they consider the wrong side.

Why are we so passionate about education and our children that we are willing to risk the unity we have built?  I don’t want an answer! I was there in Dayton St. School, Franklin, Garfield, Elizabeth High, and too many others to mention.  I had my Spinal Cord Injury in my sophomore year but before that I experienced it all.  I was jumped by eight other students because I was Puerto Rican.  I chipped my teeth when another student tripped me.  I was told not to aspire to great things because nothing great ever happened to kids like us.   Teachers sometimes acted more like wardens than educators.  I was there with my brothers and sisters and our struggles were those of our young kids today.  In some schools fear still reigns as king and we pray for a better future for them.   I know why we would do anything — so that they can do better than us.

However, I was troubled this year by the disrespect we have shown one another.  I was more troubled by my willingness to entertain gossip, innuendo, and half-truths.  I did not like the way I spoke to friends.   The truth is we are trying to have our kids taught by one entity or another but we are the ones that need an education.  I started believing in the abilities of Latinos to unite and be empowered while at Rutgers, when survival instincts told us we better stick together.   We knew then what we have forgotten now.

I have spent the last 10 or so years as a delegate of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey. Throughout that time I have grown to value differences of opinion and in some cases differences of ideology.  It is what has made us a strong organization; in fact, it is the founding mantra.  We work and tolerate others’ differing beliefs because the substantive issues like immigration, diversity, discrimination prevention and, yes, education are workable by us.  We can do something about them, or at least try.

I don’t know who will win in November.  I support one person and others may support someone else.  The truth is that a day after the election we will still be faced with the same issues as a community. The same struggle to form a better future for our children out of blood, sweat and tears.

However, we must not continue the tone of disrespect, which has prevailed.  We must show our children that we are leaders who came together despite our differences for one purpose.

Them.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Politics, Education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.