The Education of Latinos: Hamilton vs. Jefferson

Writer and professor George Santayana stated that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”. Learning from the past is understanding how history helped mold who we are as individuals, communities, and nations. When there are two great ideas, but one greater challenge, it is imperative to search for the middle ground between both, and one big idea will emerge from the encounter.

The United States of America’s constitution and its configuration was the result of building upon the contrasting ideas of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Two totally different outstanding intellectuals but with a profound love for their country. 

From the love and passion for a new country, Hamilton and Jefferson collided with different viewpoints about how to run the new government. The divisions inherited from the British Empire loomed into their mindsets, but President George Washington built a bridge where they met at the crossroads. Washington saw strength in their differences, and as key members of his cabinet, he put them to work together. 

Consequently, one of the greatest governments in history emerged, and a new government gave birth to a rising nation. Some will say that the two major political parties were a result of a division not unity, but Washington knew from his previous success in the Revolutionary War and his star generals that key differences often sparked the greatest victories. Washington discovered the power of the greatest ideas in the minds of those with the greatest differences.

The education of Latinos has its roots in a country where opposites like Hamilton and Jefferson worked and collaborated in the greatest proposal of all time. Why not learn from the past and rebuild a better future for all Americans?  Why insist in our differences? Why is it such an impracticality for Latinos to sit down, set their differences aside and collaborate in a mutual agenda?

As an independent Latino voter, I have tried on multiple occasions to get my Red and Blue counterparts to sit down and see how it is possible to create something special for our up-and-coming generations. This is not about us, it is about our upcoming generations.

The economic, social, political, and historical advancement of Latinos does not dwell in one political party or the other. It is rooted in the ability and adaptability of who we are as a nation versus the inability to see beyond the straitjacket mindset of believing that only one political party can represent us as a people.

Why not learn from Hamilton and Jefferson and bring about a conversation about who, where, what, when, and how we should vote? If education is a key, let’s unlock the door of indisposition and indifference. Let’s become a force to be reckoned with rather than a force to be ignored.

Santayana was right. What is our greatest fear? Some fear success: others fear compromise. If the nation in which many of us were born, flourished in revolutionary times with the differences of many but with a vision of one: United States of America, why can’t we Latinos get away from the one mindset attitude?

Every nation has made its sacrifices for its birth and development. Many sacrificed their own in civil wars, world wars and unnecessary wars. We Latinos must sacrifice our mindset!