WASHINGTON — Now comes the time of year for stressed office workers and the college-age party crowd to cut loose, don culturally stereotypical outfits, turn up the appropriate folk music, and drink.
No, not St. Patrick’s Day. The other one: Cinco de Mayo. But like its Irish cousin, this regional Mexican holiday may be more of a big deal in the U.S. than in its home country.
Cinco de Mayo marks Mexico’s victory over the invading French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862 (despite some confusion, it is not Mexican Independence Day; that’s Sept. 16). Outnumbered by as much as three to one — accounts differ — the Mexican defenders held off 6,000 soldiers from what the History Channel calls “one of the best armies in the world.”
But the victory was short-lived: 30,000 more troops arrived later, overran Puebla and marched on to occupy large parts of Mexico. So why celebrate the May 5 victory, especially in the U.S.?
“The answer is simple: Celebration of the Cinco de Mayo is not a Mexican holiday,” UCLA professor David Hayes-Bautista wrote in 2009. “It is an American Civil War holiday, created spontaneously by Mexicans and Latinos living in California who supported the fragile cause of defending freedom and democracy during the first years of that bloody war.”
Hayes-Bautista holds that the holiday belongs to America as much as Mexico, and says the victory at Puebla prevented the French from aiding the Confederacy during the Civil War.
“Far up in the gold country town of Columbia (California, now Columbia State Park), Mexican miners were so overjoyed at the news that they spontaneously fired off rifles shots and fireworks, sang patriotic songs and made impromptu speeches,” Hayes-Bautista wrote.
That California connection might explain why the biggest Cinco de Mayo celebration happens in Los Angeles each year. Of course, the 55 million Latino Americans, 64 percent of them from Mexican backgrounds, might have something to do with the American fascination with the holiday.
It might also explain the 81 million avocados the California Avocado Commission expects we’ll eat as many Americans drink margaritas, tequila and Mexican beer May 5. Though perhaps that needs no explanation beyond “Mmm. Guacamole.”
Published in conjunction with 