This morning on my ride into work I listened to Boston’s WROR “Loren and Wally” show, which tends to be eminently worth listening to. But this morning the “Wallyology” report on Cinco de Mayo had me appalled.
I don’t normally look to comedy shows for accuracy, but, heck, this was supposedly a researched “report”. About an important holiday to Mexicans and Mex-Americans, so you’d think…
Well, "Cinco de Mayo is apparently about the Mexicans defeating the French under Napoleon who came to Mexico to collect taxes.
What? No mention of Maximilian? The Mexican Imperial Monarchy? And even though they mentioned that this was about the time of the American Civil War, the WROR folks were clearly confusing Napoleon III with Napoleon (they were making jokes about him needing the taxes because he was “short”, and about him having his hand in his coat).
At least a listener e-mailed to set them straight about Napoleon/Napoleon III, but didn’t comment on the rest.
Well, the installation of Maximillian in the first place was because the French were trying to collect debts that the earlier Mexican government had defaulted on. But yeah, that probably is an oversimplification.
And come to think of it, the Battle of Puebla happened before the installation of Maximillian anyway. Emperor Maximillian wouldn’t be installed by the French for another year (after another French army came and beat the Mexicans). So, I guess you could say it was about “the Mexicans defeating the French under Napoleon who came to Mexico to collect taxes”
Yeah, but it misses the Big Picture in a big way. It’s kind of like saying that the American Revolution happened because Americans threw some British tea in the harbor.
Or (this being Massachusetts and all) it’s like mentioning the Massachusetts state holiday Patriot’s Day (which, like Cinco de Mayo is a big holiday celebrating a battle that took place long before the culmination of the events it started) without a mention of the American Revolution. And to top it off, saying that King John was the British King at the time.
Another thing is that most Mexicans don’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It was something that got promoted in the US as a way to sell beer and tortilla chips.
Does seem that way. Grocery stores in neighborhoods where the only Hispanics come in during the day to clean houses are pushing huge displays of chips, salsa, avocados, Tecate and Corona.
Invariably, it also has a way of getting violent. At San Jose’s celebration on Sunday, 147 people were arrested for things like public intoxication, fighting and weapons posession, and over 900 citations were issued.
Here’s an article from MSNBC on Cinco de Mayo. It chastises Americans for how little we know about the day. Then the author goes on to demonstrate how little he knows.
It could have been worse. Many people are shocked to learn that Cinco de Mayo isn’t Mexican Independance Day (sep. 16). It’s celebrated mainly in the state of Puebla and to lesser degree elsewhere in Mexico. Up here in Baja California it’s pretty much just a nod that’s given. In southern california some communities with large hispanic populations have really gotten into the act, some because of commercialism, and some because it’s a nice way to celebrate the culture so far from home. It’s a big change from when I was a sprout and today was just another day.
