A Friendly Reminder About Cinco De Mayo

By Special Correspondent Arturo R. García, also Posted at The Instant Callback

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Continuing a semi-yearly tradition of mine since my days working at my college paper, just a few notes about today:

1. This is not Mexican Independence Day
Nope, that’s September 16th. 5/5 commemorates an unlikely Mexican victory over the French at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. The battle delayed, but did not stop, an eventual French occupation of the country, which lasted three years before it was toppled.

beerad1 2. This is not that big of a deal back home
Don’t let the beer ads fool you; 5/5 is a regional holiday, usually celebrated at the site of the battle. But, it’s nowhere near as big a deal as it is in El Otro Lado. Now, is that because of immigrant pride, or American corporate opportunism? That, I leave for you to decide. During my time working in local Spanish-language radio, the biggest sponsors for our Cinco de Mayo concerts were — you guessed it — beer companies. Banners everywhere, beer girls hawking their wares on the stage, booze selling like hot cakes in the fenced-off drinking area. I don’t doubt that at least some of the people who attended the events had their hearts in the right place, but the commercial aspect definitely got on my nerves when I thought about it.

3. ‘Celebration’ does not equal acceptance
Sure, people around the country will don their fakest sombreros and sing Ricky Martin at karaoke bars — because all Latinos are from Mexico, right? — but the furor over the H1N1 virus revealed examples of how we’re still Others here, no matter the method of emigration. Check out these comments by Boston radio host Jay Severin regarding Mexicans:

“When we are the magnet for primitives around the world – and it’s not the primitives’ fault by the way, I’m not blaming them for being primitives – I’m merely observing they’re primitive.”

“It’s millions of leeches from a primitive country come here to leech off you and, with it, they are ruining the schools, the hospitals, and a lot of life in America.”

“We should be, if anything, surprised that Mexico has not visited upon us poxes of more various and serious types already, considering the number of criminaliens already here.

And in Pennsylvania, two white teens were acquitted in the beating and killing of an immigrant. From the story:

“Isn’t it a little late for you guys to be out?” the boys said, according to court documents. “Get your Mexican boyfriend out of here.”

… Burke recalled hearing one final, ominous threat as the teens ran. “They yelled, ‘You effin bitch, tell your effin Mexican friends get the eff out of Shenandoah or you’re gonna be laying effin next to him,’ ” she said.

On the more anecdotal side, have you ever noticed that, in some discussions about the increase in Spanish-language radio stations in this country over the past few years, that there’s almost always one person in the talk who gets indignant about it? That complains about “fucking Mexican music” as if it were clogging up his or her airwaves, depriving them of valuable time that could be spent listening to Sublime for the 80 millionth time? The guy who fancies himself a new Zapata today might be parroting Lou Dobbs tomorrow. Just something to listen for, if you’re joining the party at your local watering hole tonight. Myself, I’m probably gonna sit it out, think about home, and have a drink.

Not tequila, for the record.

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A Friendly Reminder About Cinco-De-Mayo « 100% Juicy Juice on 05 May 2009 at 2:35 pm

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Comments

Cindy wrote:

Finally, I have been trying to tell everyone that wishes me a Happy Cinco De Mayo that it’s not actually Mexican independence day. Meanwhile, not being Mexican myself, I wondered why I was getting it wished upon me so many times. Oh that’s right, because to them I am Mexican. In grade school, I’d tell people I was Colombian and the big joke was for them to finally get me to “admit” I was really Mexican. In any case, had I actually been Mexican, I would’ve gotten jokes about being dirty or something.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 10:12 am ¶
Erica wrote:

re “This is not that big of a deal back home” — I’ve noticed similar sentiments from an Irish friend, who is still baffled by St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. He got rather fed up one year when another acquaintance insisted “you HAVE to come get drunk, you’re IRISH, this is IRISH DAY!”

It’s all about the alcohol and excuse to party, whether you’re celebrating a holiday from your own country (e.g. July 4, in honor of filing paperwork) or mooching off another country because you apparently don’t have enough excuses to drink without converting their minor celebrations into massive boozefests.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 10:30 am ¶
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist! wrote:

Seriously, people’s stupidity of Cinco de Mayo or Mexican culture never cease to amaze me.

Yep, it’s just a corporate holiday for people to booze it up and then make racist, stupid, xenophobic jokes aimed at Mexicans. “Oh but we’re just having FUN!” they will scream at you if you try to tell them that particular joke wasn’t cool.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 10:41 am ¶
gatamala wrote:

Erica~ you made me laugh.

I think Americans are overworked and need more festivals…OUR own made-up festivals that don’t invoke another’s culture. Between the Internet, Daily Show, Budweiser & Hallmark, we should be able to come up with something.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 10:42 am ¶
Eva wrote:

All of these holidays have become commercial and an excuse to get drunk. Look at Christmas and New Years Day. One is an excuse to spend money you don’t have and the other is an excuse to get drunk.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 11:11 am ¶
little mixed girl wrote:

i remember hearing that cinco de mayo was a independence day celebration and/or it was a celebration of the mexican government overthrowing the spanish government.

i can’t for the life of me remember where i heard those, but the record was set straight a few min ago by wikipedia for me.

as to drinking for other cultures holidays, i don’t think we can really expect that america would celebrate a certain day the same way that the original country of origin does.
even adequately getting information distributed on a foreign holiday is hard…

Posted 05 May 2009 at 11:12 am ¶
Kay wrote:

I have to say that many Americans are ignorant of any culture. Many corporate execs take a little know day or stereotype and blow it out of proportion. Thanks Corporate America.

Cindy @: I hear what you are saying. You are Colombian and are proud of you heritage. But to most Americans, anyone who speaks spanish is Mexican and from no other country. True, it is like you said, if you were truly Mexican there would be a whole host of insults thrown your way.

This blog does make a good point. Many people don’t know why they celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and never will. I, myself, who happened to read and study Spanish and it’s history among it’s diverse people. ( I was trying to learn a little about my family. Long story short, family is from Jamaica, but also has some roots in Cuba) Anyway, I happened to learn of this particular battle, and found out as this blog said, why the people of Puebla celebrate or mark the day as significant.

I have to say this, sorry if it may offend, but America for all its good, lacks a culture of it’s own. It’s culture is war and aside from that, to look into America there is no true clear cut culture or our own. It’s a mix of everything and nothing at the same time.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 11:42 am ¶
CDF wrote:

I forgot it was Cinco de Mayo. Then again, I’m not the type to just drop everything and celebrate for no good reason. I remember as a college student back in the late ’90s where some folks were talking about 5/5 and even then didn’t know the purpose of it.

No offense to any herb tokers (co-signed), but what’s the point of 4/20? You can smoke it anytime you feel like it, but someone decided on April 20th…smh!

I’m sure some of you have already read it, but that post over on Racewire concerning “swine” flu could also apply to this non-issue day…
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2009/04/right_flu_wrong_swine_1.html#more

Posted 05 May 2009 at 11:54 am ¶
vgirl wrote:

In the wake of Swine Flue racism, I totally feel a post that sets some myths straight. I just have to interject though that as a Mexican American girl growing up in California my family always celebrated Cinco de Mayo. We all knew that it wasn’t a traditional Mexican holiday (my immigrant grandmother never celebrated it back home, for example). It was, however, a day that as a kid I felt proud of my Mexican heritage. My family told stories about immigrant life in L.A. in the early 20th century and how proud we should be of the perseverance of our elders. Being bi-racial (half African American) meant often not being read as latina, so having a day to proudly proclaim that I was half Mexican was a good thing for me as a kid. Going to see traditional dancing and eating food that the women in my family only brought out on special occasions was also a really wonderful family oriented thing… just like all of the other holidays we came together to celebrate. So, I actually have really positive memories of Cinco de Mayo.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 12:37 pm ¶
Persephone wrote:

@Kay — I disagree with you. I think America does have a culture — or at least, a variety of regional cultures — we just tend to use the word “culture” to refer to things that seem different and “exotic” to us. If you visit a part of the US you’ve never been to, you’ll definitely see a culture there.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 12:46 pm ¶
Tony wrote:

I never noticed the beer ads, but you’re right on the money now that I think about it. An Irish Catholic who use to live in Puebla, Mex., near the battle, today always reminds me of St. Patty’s Day in the States, where everyone takes a day off from Catholic bashing to drink lots of beer and pretend they’re Irish. I, like yourself, plan on sitting back tonight with some homemade fajitas and a pint of stout, listening to Nek and avoiding the NYC party goers.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 12:55 pm ¶
Evan wrote:

This is the biggest day of the year for Corona beer. Bars better have plenty of lime wedges available.

Cinco de Mayo is just another excuse for Americans to get drunk and call in sick the next day. I would say 90 percent of the drunks will be people of non-Mexican heritage by the way.

I can’t wait for Oktoberfest and get drunk with people who have absolutely zero knowledge of German culture or the nation’s history.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 1:25 pm ¶
Kay wrote:

@ Persephone – I have visited other areas of America. There are places that are unique.There is a regional culture but America as a whole does not have a distinct culture that we can truly say is our own. I’m not refering to “exotic”. But America has lost many things. Yes, I know, it is the ” melting pot” but to lose your our culture to take one where morals and values are lost, I think not.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 1:37 pm ¶
jeff wrote:

CDF I thought 420 referred to a time of day! Ive been doing WAY too much celebrating!

Of course in the US things get hyped and commercialised. It is the nature of your culture. It is a pity that everything gets bland and corporatised, a shame that the alcohol companies hold such sway and unfortunante that people will blindly buy what is being sold to them. 5/5 is undoubtedly being used to make money. It would be wonderful if we could have celebration days with no advertising or hidden agendas. Even if the day was just about fun and friends. We should also have alot more holidays and festivals. It would make the world a better place!

Posted 05 May 2009 at 1:44 pm ¶
lakergrrl wrote:

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
I’ve been having a bad case of the frustrations trying not to go Little Bunny Foofoo on some of the people around me who don’t even know what they’re celebrating.

@ vgirl

Yay! Another Blaxican chick!

@ Tony

homemade fajitas, a pint and listening to Nek ? Awesome

Posted 05 May 2009 at 2:01 pm ¶
Erik wrote:

Thanks for this post. Cinco de Mayo to most white people I know is “Drink a 5th in May” and not much more. As for the history behind the day, they could probably care less so long as the beer is cold and on sale and Corona knows it.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 2:26 pm ¶
karak wrote:

@Kay– Thanks for telling me I have no culture. I suppose I exist in this strange, shapeless void. I wonder how when I travel overseas people can tell I’m American? It couldn’t possibly be my values, conceptions of the world, foods, appearance, holidays, speech, religion, or patriotism. Naw, I don’t have any of those unique to me and other Americans!

Onto to actual post– I think you’re exactly on the money about why Cinco De Mayo is the way it is in the US.

Americans love a party, and we love to commercialize events and blow them hugely out of proportion. We do this with every holiday, whether religious, like Christmas, or more cultural, like Cinco De Mayo.

And I think that a lot of immigrants start to emphasize “big” milestones in their culture/nation because their children are no longer immersed in day-to-day experiences of being Mexican. My family is not recent immigrants to the US, though, so I may be talking out of my rear on this one.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 2:33 pm ¶
Mrs._Lioness wrote:

lakergrrl – LOL at “Little Bunny Foofoo” – haven’t heard that in a LONG time – brought back some memories

Posted 05 May 2009 at 2:50 pm ¶
Anna wrote:

An article related to this subject:

“On May 5, Mexican Dominance Irks Other Latinos”

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7504771

Basta ya del cinco de mayo!

Posted 05 May 2009 at 3:44 pm ¶
Wendi Muse wrote:

yeah…not to derail, but back to the comment made by kay…america definitely has a culture. i realize that more and more each day that i live abroad. especially when it comes to regional differences. people often say that the south represents the only truly american culture, if we were to put it on pen and paper, bc a lot of culinary and music traditions started there, but even those traditions came from other countries.

when you compare american culture to that of other countries, sure, it has a lot of more roots in other places, but i think that is what makes it so american. it’s a huge mix that we have digested, changed, and passed onto other generations.

it’s funny bc i was explaining to my students (who are brazilian) yesterday that cinco de mayo is bigger in the states than it is in mexico and brought up several of the points arturo mentions here. it made for an interesting discussion on cultural appropriation. but i think at the end of the day, we don’t sit down and reflect enough on what it really means to be american and to participate in american culture. it’s a bit like the racial monolith of whiteness. there is always other, but what does white really mean? we have to unpack being american just like we unpack the aforementioned…

Posted 05 May 2009 at 4:20 pm ¶
Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist! wrote:

Of course America has a culture… Coca Cola, McDonalds, Nike, Budweiser, baseball, frat douche-bags, cheerleaders.. . all that is American.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 5:06 pm ¶
Luis wrote:

The culture of the United States doesn’t have more roots in other places than the culture of any other country in the Americas.

Mexican culture is a pastiche of not only old Castilian and indigenous culture, but also influences from immigrants. What is Norteño music without the contributions German and Polish immigrants? Filipino influence in Acapulco, African influence in Vera Cruz.

In the Dominican Republic, people conceptualize the culture as a mixture of Spanish, Taino, and (often ignored) African cultures, but there’s a lot more than that going on. For example I grew up eating kipes at family gatherings, a fried mix of grain and meat. One day I was at the home of Jordanian family friends and saw a plate of them staring out at me. Turns out the popular food is an example of the strong Lebanese influence in the Dominican Republic that had long become integrated into the culture.

All American countries are an aggregate of many other national cultures. There is no such thing as purity in these continents. If you don’t think you have an American culture, just spend some time abroad. You’re cultural American-ness will become very obvious to you.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 5:56 pm ¶
Kaonashi wrote:

Ewan: My avatar on WOW will toast you in spirit at Brewfest (right after fighting those dastardly Dark Iron Dwarves and their evil plot to steal all the free beer)!

Posted 05 May 2009 at 6:12 pm ¶
lakergrrl wrote:

@ Anna

I hope I’m misunderstanding your post. Are you saying we should stop having widespread Cinco de Mayo celebrations because Mexican “dominance” annoys other hispanics? Isn’t that like saying stop with Chinese New Year celebrations cuz it irks other Asians? Love it or hate it, Mexico is quite literally our next door neighbor, so of course it’s going to have a bigger cultural impact in the US than say El Salvador or Cuba. Right now I’m on the East Coast, where Mexicans are definitely not the majority. So should I say basta ya to the Puerto Rican Day Parade and the Calle Ocho festival? Sorry for the rant, but that just bugs me.

@ Mrs. Lioness

I’m was wondering if someone would catch that ^_^

Posted 05 May 2009 at 6:55 pm ¶
Mike wrote:

The story of the acquittal of the murderers reminds me of Vincent Chin. 20 years later and we still can’t enforce justice in this country, awesome.
Also I bet if you go around bars today to 5/5 events and ask about immigration and building border walls, you’ll get some less-than-appropriate answers.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 7:06 pm ¶
a garcia wrote:

The celebration of Cinco de Mayo was created in the fight for civil rights as a space to recognize the history of Mexicans and Chicanos in the U.S. and as a metaphor of the power of the underdog to topple the powers that be. A rag-tag army of Indigenous people faced off and defeated the well-armed, trained imperial French army, in the battle of Puebla. That is the metaphor that our social justice movement of rag-tag grassroots and community-based groups can achieve the changes that we have identified, one of the being full rights and options to permanent residency and citizenship for all immigrants, deeper civil rights that respect our inherent dignity and humanity.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 7:32 pm ¶
MJS013 wrote:

Ya know, throughout taking Spanish classes in highschool (haven’t taken any in college thus far), there was definitely a huge emphasis on cinco de mayo (though the classes were a mix of various countries, sorta–mainly Mexico and Spain). I’m sure we were taught it was Mexican Independence day. Which is just, disconcerting.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 8:15 pm ¶
Guerita wrote:

Hi I have alot to type but very little time (hw and studying)
o.K @ I agree 100% with you my dad said the same thing in about American culture.
@ Luis One thing that Chicanos and a lot other people( at least my my experience don’t mention Mexico is a very big country(fifth-largest country in the Americas so Mexican culture is complex. Most Mexican Immigrant I meet come from the north or central Mexico not southern or eastern. It’s y hard for me to relate because as someone whose family is from Veracruz. I will like to point out middle class and upper class Mexicans look down on Mexican Americans and Chicanos.

Posted 05 May 2009 at 8:19 pm ¶
Medusa wrote:

@ Deaf Indian Muslim Anarchist: Agreed. When I moved to America, I was SHOCKED at how much of the “culture” was mired in commercial products rather than any kind of significant historical events….

Posted 05 May 2009 at 8:29 pm ¶
Fatemeh wrote:

GREAT POST, ARTURO!!!

Posted 05 May 2009 at 10:39 pm ¶
Greg wrote:

Yeah, yeah, America has a culture… Anywhere has a culture, depending on how you define it. But seriously, one definition of culture would have that of the US be, not formed from the bottom up (like in many other places), but forced from the top down: it’s not the people who want to eat McDonald’s, drink Bud, watch American Idol, live the American Dream; it’s the powers that be who tell us this is what we want and how and when. American culture is advertising and the industrialization of our food; it’s profit margins and self-promotion at others’ expense; it’s being just like everyone else despite paying lip service to “individuality”, and so much more. God, I’m proud to be an American!

Posted 06 May 2009 at 12:26 am ¶
diana wrote:

Good post. A coworker asked me last week if I was doing anything for Cinco de Mayo, and my angry chicana side came out a little, which I show at work. I told my co worker that I thought it was a tokenized holiday that isn’t really that meaningful, to me, it’s most ly like St. Patrick’s day, just an excuse for people to get drunk.

Then over the weekend I thought about my experience with 5o de Mayo growing up. Often it was the only time that my culture/heritage was celebrated and acknowledged in schools. It sucks going through school always as an outsider and finally on this one day you get a chance to be celebrated. However, my culture should not only be celebrated one day out of the year. Especially since like someone said above, the battle of puebla is an example of resistance, which I do want to celebrate, but how do we celebrate it in a conscious way?!?
And where do I go from here?

Posted 06 May 2009 at 1:25 am ¶
kyledeb wrote:

This post makes a pro-migrant blogger proud. Way to bring up Cinco de Mayo in an intelligent fashion.

Posted 06 May 2009 at 2:00 am ¶
little mixed girl wrote:

this is off the main topic of cinco de mayo, but when i was in the US, i felt like i had no culture.
from elementary school until about my 3rd year of university, i would have whole-heartedly agreed with the posters who say that american culture is “coca-cola and hamburgers”.

but now that i’m living abroad, and i’ve had time to think about it, i think that many americans want to raise the “no culture” thing too much.

england, which is a country with a longer history than the US has citizens asking what british culture is. i know that my british friend brought up that question with me before.

our country’s history is short, and we are picking things from the various cultures of peoples who have immigrated to the US.
so, i have to wonder, what’s wrong with not having a defined culture after 200 yrs or so?

i think that many americans long for “culture” but don’t want to be burdened by cultural responsibilities.
ie- having a culture with a language that strictly defines where you are in the hierarchy.

if you want a culture, then you have to involved in creating it, don’t just sit back and criticize and expect culture to be born out of criticisms… -_-

Posted 06 May 2009 at 10:15 am ¶
Evan wrote:

In response to Little Mixed Girl…

How do you develop a unified culture across racial, ethnic and religious lines? Do we make up food dishes out of thin air? Do we create a new genre of music or male/female relationship customs?

In the United States, the only culture that can bridge the divide is consumer materialism. Our national addiction to spending money on useless crap and going into debt transcends all race and ethnicity in this country. This is why corporations have so much power over the American people and its political leaders.

I would argue that people of different cultures can have shared values. I think people in the US value honesty, hard work, and polite social behavior for example. Then again, shared values is not the same thing as observing customs and rituals.

Posted 06 May 2009 at 11:48 am ¶
dem wrote:

The US has the reverse problem that almost every other country has. France is trying to fend off American culture and preserve French culture, much like India and other countries throughout the world. The US on the other hand loses its culture to those same countries. When there is (or was) a Starbucks in the forbidden city in China you really wonder what is uniquely American.

Posted 07 May 2009 at 2:47 pm ¶
Tara K. wrote:

@Kay: By saying that America is without culture, you’re demonstrating the ideology that our culture is the “norm” and that all “other” culture exists in reference to our culture.

Seriously.

Posted 07 May 2009 at 4:44 pm ¶
Tara K. wrote:

And can I also say that, while it’s appropriate to criticize white privilege, I find it really upsetting when I see negative generalizations about white people on here. How is that okay?

Posted 07 May 2009 at 4:45 pm ¶
little mixed girl wrote:

@ Evan
i think that there are some things that are common across many americans that could be called culture.

but, i have to wonder what it is that you consider culture.
before coming to japan, i somewhat assumed that there was “chinese culture”, but the chinese people here continuously tell me that that’s not the case.
there are 65 different minority groups in china, so what’s there to unify them?

if you think that materialism is something that is exclusive to the US and that we have sent abroad to “pure” nations, then i would say that you’re mistaken.

culture is a living, breathing thing; and i don’t think that a country’s culture can easily be summed up as “they have traditional dances, traditional clothing, respect for elders, etc/whatever”.

like i said, i think that many americans are envious of cultural signifiers like traditional dress, music, etc; but that they don’t want to be chained to them.
does a “sweet 16″ have to be as big of an event as a “quinceanera(sp)”?
do students need to be taught square dancing or something as a part of formal schooling?

can i have some more examples of what you see as culture?

Posted 07 May 2009 at 9:46 pm ¶
pilot wrote:

hmm.. I just figured people get a bit antsy when there aren’t many holidays around…I kind of feel like you can see ‘meaningless’ holidays in so many other countries as well.

But, yeah, the lack of awareness of Mexican culture is absolutely shocking in the U.S. I was at the Native American History Museum in DC (a whole other story on neo-colonialism), where I overheard a woman saying, “I like the museum, but why do they have to put in so much Mexican stuff? I mean, this is America.” I’m disappointed in myself for not screaming out loud. Why do we spend so much time in history class on medieval Europe and so little on a country that we have a shared culture with???

Posted 12 May 2009 at 9:22 pm ¶