Today is the 5th of May, or Mexican Independence Day. Why has celebrating this day become ingrained in the culture of the US and other countries? I’m thinking that if I up and moved to say, Canada, that the 4th of July wouldn’t hold any importance to me any longer. I don’t really celebrate it here.
Why do countries celebrate other countries Independence Days? Why do we care? Frankly, I couldn’t care less about Cinco de Mayo and think it’s ridiculous to celebrate the independence of one’s home country while living in another.
IIRC, Cinco de Mayo is mostly a hispanic-American holiday, and is not widely celebrated in Mexico. It’s not Mexican Independence Day - it’s the day the Mexican Army defeated the French in 1862.
Googling “Cinco de Mayo” gives you more info than you ever wanted to know about Cinco de Mayo.
Me? I just find it a good excuse to drink Margaritas and make Mexican food. Woo-woo!
Like St. Patrick’s day, Cinco de Mayo has become an excuse to get drunk. Corona (which is Spanish for Miller hi-life) hypes it, bars hype it, college kids love it, absolutly no one knows what it means. Until I read Athena’s post, I didn’t.
It’s just like St. Patrick’s Day (which is not a big deal in Ireland. My friend who was their said everyone “knew” the best place to celebrate it is New York). A holiday celebrated by expatriats that gained some local appeal, and was soon picked up as a marketing boom by beer companies.
??? I’m about to move out of the country. Should that stop me from having a 4th of July get together with my friends and reminicing about fireworks and county fairs? People like to celebrate. In December, Christmas trees go up around the world, including in largely non-Christian India and Japan. America in particular is pretty bereft of holidays, and we take what we can get.
Also, large swathes of the West used to be Mexico. It is a part of our history, too.
Yeah, that’s a common misconception. Mexican Independence Day is in September, I believe. The only reason Mexico had to fight the French was probably a result of loans taken out during the Mexican-American War. So in effect, they get a holiday because we defeated them in battle. You’re welcome, Mexico.
Being a Texan, I’ve always preferred to celebrate September 16 to Cinco de Mayo. The Battle of Puebla was inspiring and all, but it didn’t have much connection to the eventual overall victory. September 16 celebrates the inital liberation of Mexico from Spanish rule, at a time when Texas and the southwest were still part of Mexico. In my mind at least, that makes it the more sensible event to celebrate, at least here in the US.
It’s my daughter’s birthday. She’s 14 now. :eek: She got her first pair of (low) heels for a school dance, and a bracelet with a half-carat’s worth of diamonds in it.
I’ve never celebrated Cinco de Mayo or Diez y Seis de Septiembre. I’m not Mexican. But I think that I will this year to just piss off all the anti-illegal immigration bigots that piss and moan about these "Mexican"celebrations.
My intent was not to piss off anti-illegal alien crowd as a whole, just the bigots on the anti-illegal alien side. Heck, I’m all for significantly increased border enforcement by professionl immigration trained law enforcement (Border Patrol). And I’m not too much of a bigot.
Except that there can be no equivalent agony, Mexican or otherwise, of nursing a hang-over the next day with the memory of 100 bagpipes playing Brian Boru’s March stuck in your head.
How I’ve always thought of the holiday in my head:
“Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of when some peasants sent a herd of cattle stampeding through the French army. This confused them (“hey, look at all that tasty beef!”) and let the Mexican army beat them. The French promptly returned and took over the country. Eventually France surrendered.”
