Cinco de Mayo is More Than Eating and Drinking

May the Fifth is coming up in a week. Is that insignificant to you? Perhaps if I would have said Cinco de Mayo, you’d remember the holiday. It’s the day when Americans like to celebrate Mexican culture and drink a lot of alcohol. As if we Americans need another reason to drink, right?

It’s become very popular to celebrate Cinco de Mayo here in the US. There are parades and parties but the strange thing for me is that as a child, my Mexican American family never celebrated Cinco de Mayo. We had lessons as school (probably because we had a large proportion of Hispanic students) but never did anything beyond that.

In fact, it seems very few people know what the significance of Cinco de Mayo is. Most call is Mexican Independence Day. Mexican Independence Day is September 16, and is held in high regard to those in Mexico. However, according to my family who are still in contact with loved ones in and around Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is not celebrated there. It’s an American thing.

The alien on the right has a large, bushy mustache, which reminds me of my dad while I was growing up.

But I am American, 2nd generation born here (not an illegal alien, if you were worried). So I will celebrate Cinco de Mayo, which is a celebration of the Mexican army’s victory in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, because I am American with Mexican American roots. It’s a great way to show my kids the fun side of their Mexican American Heritage roots with the food, music, and bright colors. More importantly, my family members were migrant workers who settled in Michigan. My dad knows what it is to work in the fields and made a better life for himself and his family because he wanted more for his family. Isn’t that the American Dream? So while others are looking for a reason to have a fiesta, eat tacos, and get drunk, I will be thankful for being an American and all the opportunities my children and I have. And I’ll eat a taco too.