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Opinion
Gringo de Mayo
Friday, May 5, 2023
In the process of writing this column each week, I frequently look to the calendar for inspiration. Our religious organizations see to it that we understand the meanings behind our high holy days, but many of the other holidays get lost in commercialization or recreational pursuits that obscure their meaning. In those instances, I try to bring myself up to speed on the topic, and if I find anything interesting, I share what I have learned.
Such is the case with the Mexican American holiday, Cinco de Mayo. When I’m in the right frame of mind for self-deprecating humor, I sometimes point out with a sense of wonder that “Cinco de Mayo falls on the fifth of May again this year.” That one is always good for an eye roll from my daughter. Of course, we know that Cinco de Mayo translates to “the fifth of May,” and as astute Americans, many of us reason that if we refer to our Independence Day by date alone, then Cinco de Mayo must be Mexican Independence Day. Right?
Well, no. It isn’t. It was not on May 5, but on September 16 of 1810 that Spain withdrew from Mexico and recognized it as a sovereign nation. Mexican Independence Day, or “El Grito de Independencia” is recognized throughout Mexico with parades, family gatherings, and fiestas, much like our Independence Day observances.
Cinco de Mayo is quite different. It commemorates a pyrrhic victory by the Mexican Army during the Franco-Mexican war, a half-century after Mexico’s recognized day of independence. In 1862, a small Mexican force defending Guadalupe Fortress in the city of Puebla repelled an attack by a much larger French force. The French lost 500 soldiers, but the Mexicans lost fewer than 100. It was a classic David and Goliath story, and the heroes of Puebla have been celebrated appropriately, but with a subdued fervor. To borrow a sports metaphor, it’s a win with an asterisk.
When we think of our battle of New Orleans, we may beam with pride for a few moments, but our enthusiasm is tempered by the knowledge that the War of 1812 didn’t go particularly well for us and that our only major victory happened after the war had officially been declared a draw.
Many Mexicans look at Cinco de Mayo the same way. The battle is known as the “first battle of Puebla” because there was a second battle of Puebla, and it didn’t go nearly as well. It went so poorly that in June of the following year, the French captured Mexico City and installed a puppet government headed by the Austrian Archduke Maximilian.
The Franco-Mexican war began as a visit from a nasty debt collector. In the wake of many years of civil war, political instability, and general chaos, Mexico was deeply indebted to Spain, Britain, and France. After a blockade by combined European forces, Britain and Spain cut a deal for a repayment plan and went home. The French, under Napoleon III, weren’t so easily satisfied, and with designs on empire building, they stuck around to fight and ultimately conquered Mexico. With all due respect to the heroes of Puebla, it’s not hard to understand why the holiday isn’t embraced with unbridled patriotic enthusiasm.
Today, Cinco de Mayo is recognized with celebrations and observances in Mexico, particularly in Puebla, and in our border states from Texas to California. Newspaper accounts of celebrations on our side of the Rio Grande date back as far as the 1860s, but it wasn’t until the 1980s that the holiday gained widespread popularity in the US.
Curmudgeons who suspect that Mother’s Day was contrived by Russell Stover and Hallmark can take pleasure in knowing that Cinco de Mayo, as it is now recognized in the United States, readily owns up to the fact that the observance is promoted in an effort to sell beer and tequila. A quick internet search tells us that Anhueuser-Busch, Miller, and the importers of Corona and Modelo are all more than happy to take credit for the Americanized version of the holiday. Consequently, Cinco de Mayo is more celebrated in the United States than in Mexico, in much the same way that New York and Boston celebrations of St. Patrick’s Day eclipse any held in Ireland.
This year, if you are one to participate in our Americanized holiday, be sure to raise a glass to the heroes of Puebla. If your thirst is not yet quenched, you can also toast the demise of Napoleon III, who died in exile, and Archduke Maximilian, who was executed in 1867 when Mexico regained its independence. Above all else, drive safely. It’s better to sip one or two snifters of Patrón with fresh lime than have a gullet full of Souza and ghastly sour mix. You will thank yourself in the morning.