Why You Shouldn't Celebrate Cinco de Mayo - At Least Not the Way You May Have Planned Kaitlin Kimont - Romper
go to original May 3, 2016

George Stephanopoulos brings you the amazing true story behind America’s favorite Mexican holiday. (ABC News)

For most Americans, Cinco de Mayo calls for a midweek fiesta with several tequila shots, a few margarita pitchers, and possibly a mariachi band, all while wearing a sombrero. The Mexican holiday has taken a commercialized and stereotyped meaning in the United States, and the significance and true meaning of the day has effectively been lost, acting instead as a reason for people to run out and buy half-off tacos and BOGO tequila shots.

This year, instead of giving into the hype, stop and consider why you shouldn’t celebrate Cinco de Mayo and remember why it's a holiday in the first place.

In short, Cinco de Mayo — or the fifth of May — marks the Mexican army’s unlikely victory in 1862 over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War. Cinco de Mayo is sometimes mistaken as Mexican Independence Day, which actually happens on Sept. 16 and is the most important national holiday in Mexico. Cinco de Mayo is actually celebrated more in the United States than it is in Mexico, where it’s seen as a relatively minor holiday celebrated sporadically and mostly in the southern town of Puebla, where the original battle took place.

In a 2006 interview with National Geographic, José Alamillo, professor of ethnic studies at Washington State University in Pullman, said Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in towns and cities across the United States that are predominately non-Hispanic. “It’s definitely becoming more popular than St. Patrick’s Day,” Alamillo said.

Unfortunately, the popularity of Cinco de Mayo in the United States is often a spectacle of stereotypes, not only in bars and Mexican restaurants but even on TV morning shows and broadcast news.



There’s nothing wrong with having some tequila and a few tacos on Cinco de Mayo, of course. But rather than going about the day in a disrespectful manner this year, try to celebrate in a way that doesn’t offend the culture to which it belongs, and respects others’ Mexican heritage.

Read the rest at Romper

Related: Teaching the History Behind Cinco de Mayo in the Face of Tough Election Rhetoric (Education World)

Related: How to Explain Cinco de Mayo to Your Kids, in a Way They'll Understand (romper)

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