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NATION
Cinco de Mayo
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WHAT IS CINCO DE MAYO? THE HOLIDAY'S ORIGIN AND WHY IT'S CELEBRATED IN MEXICO,
US


CINCO DE MAYO HAS LONG BEEN MISUNDERSTOOD BY MANY AMERICANS, PARTLY BECAUSE IT'S
EASY TO SAY AND AMERICAN CLASSROOMS OFTEN INCLUDE LITTLE CELEBRATING THE HISTORY
OF PEOPLE OF COLOR.

Amanda Lee Myers
USA TODAY


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Cinco de Mayo marks Mexico's against-all-odds victory against invading French
troops in 1862.

But to some Americans, it's simply Cinco de Drinko, an excuse to party with
little to no understanding of what the Mexican holiday celebrates. Many who
think they know what Cinco de Mayo is about wrongly assume it's Mexico's
Independence Day. (It's not.)

"Everyone thinks that it's just party time, it's Corona time," said Mario
García, a Chicanx historian from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

"It's OK for people to go out and have a good time on a holiday like Cinco de
Mayo -- at least they have some sense that it's some kind of a Mexican holiday,"
García said. "But we should go beyond that. We should have Cinco de Mayo events
that go beyond partying and drinking, where we call attention to what the
history is."




SO WHAT DOES CINCO DE MAYO CELEBRATE?

Mexican Independence Day, or Día de la Independencia, came on Sept. 16, 1810,
when the country broke free of Spanish rule.

Cinco de Mayo came more than 50 years later when French Emperor Napoleon III
wanted to claim Mexico for himself.



The French sent troops to force Mexico's President Benito Juárez and the
government out of Veracruz. On May 5, 1862, in a small town in east-central
Mexico called Puebla, 2,000 Mexican soldiers faced 6,000 French troops at
daybreak. Incredibly, Mexico claimed victory by the evening, and Juárez
declared May 5 a national holiday.

The battle also played a role in the American Civil War. With the French
defeated and leaving North America, the Confederacy wasn't able to use them as
an ally to win the war.




SO WHY ARE SO MANY AMERICANS STILL CONFUSED?

Part of the confusion among many Americans about what Cinco de Mayo celebrates
is likely because it's much catchier-sounding and easier for English speakers to
say than the day of Mexico's independence (Diez y seis de Septiembre), García
said.



But also a huge problem is that not enough American classrooms teach the
importance of Chicanx history and its people's contributions to the U.S.

"When you study the history of Chicanos and Latinos, of course, they've been
history makers," García said. "They've been involved in all aspects of American
history, not to mention the wars ... In World War II alone, almost half a
million Latinos – mostly Mexican Americans – fought in the war. And they won a
disproportionate number of congressional Medals of Honor."


WHY IS CINCO DE MAYO MORE POPULAR IN THE U.S. THAN MEXICO?



While there are Cinco De Mayo celebrations throughout Mexico, notably in the
city of Puebla, the event doesn't compare to the celebrations of Día de la
Independencia, García said.  

Meanwhile in the U.S., Cinco de Mayo has become an annual celebration of Mexican
American culture.

The celebration of Cinco de Mayo began as a form of resistance to the effects of
the Mexican-American War in the late 19th century. The holiday gained popularity
during the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.



"It becomes a Chicano holiday, in many ways, linked to the Chicano movement,
because we discover Mexicans resisting a foreign invader," García said. "They
link the struggle of the Chicano movement to Cinco de Mayo."

By the 1980s, companies began commercializing the holiday, especially by beer
companies and restaurants that will offer Cinco de Mayo specials and cocktails.
García jokingly refers to the day as "Corona Day." 

This Cinco de Mayo, García hopes everyone enjoys their Coronas, but perhaps
with a little history lesson to wash it down.


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