Happy Cinco De Mayo

[Easy Bakes 253]

Stay thirsty my friends

Hold the Mayo

[Meg 368]

I had never heard this:

Cinco de Mayo a Mexican import? No, it's as American as July 4, prof says

By Michael Martinez, CNN

updated 12:39 PM EDT, Sat May 5, 2012

Los Angeles (CNN) --

Cinco de Mayo -- the unofficial U.S. holiday long believed to have been imported, with celebratory beer, from Mexico -- isn't a Mexican holiday at all but rather an American one created by Latinos in the West during the Civil War, according to new research by a California professor.

Conventional thinking has held that the holiday -- now a commercial juggernaut -- may have grown out of the mass migrations from the bloody Mexican Revolution of the 1910s or even during Chicano Power activism of the 1960s, University of California at Los Angeles Professor David Hayes-Bautista said.

But on the 150th anniversary of the holiday, Hayes-Bautista is announcing that he happened upon the true origins of Cinco de Mayo -- the 5th of May -- after poring over Spanish-language newspapers in California from the mid-1800s while working on another research project.

Cinco de Mayo must-haves

Cinco de Mayo does indeed mark a Mexican military victory over the invading French army on May 5, 1862, but it's celebrated more in the United States because in 1862, U.S. Latinos of Mexican heritage parlayed the victory as a rallying cry that the Union could also win the Civil War.

That's because the French sympathized with the Confederacy, and Hispanics sided with the Union in its fight against slavery and elitism, Hayes-Bautista said. France sought to impose a monarchy over democratic Mexico while U.S. foreign power weakened during the War Between the States.

Savor 'the Mexico I know'

Hayes-Bautista, a UCLA professor of medicine whose family lore holds his great-great grandfather fought in the famous Cinco de Mayo battle, has just published a new book on the discovery, "El Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition," which one historian also at UCLA describes as "of great significance."

Hayes-Bautista was culling Spanish-language newspapers in California and Oregon for vital statistics from the 1800s when he noticed how the Civil War and Cinco de Mayo battle were intertwined. He researches the epidemiology and demography of Latinos in California because he's director of UCLA's Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.

"I'm seeing how in the minds of the Spanish-reading public in California that they were basically looking at one war with two fronts, one against the Confederacy in the east and the other against the French in the south," Hayes-Bautista said in an interview with CNN.

"In Mexico today, Cinco de Mayo means the Mexican army defeated the French army," he continued. "In California and Oregon, the news was interpreted as finally that the army of freedom and democracy won a big one against the army of slavery and elitism. And the fact that those two armies had to meet in Mexico was immaterial because they were fighting for the same issues -- defending freedom and democracy. Latinos were joining the Union army, Union cavalry, Union navy.

"The French goal was to eliminate democracy, and remember that Mexico had democracy only for 30 or 40 years at that point," he added. "Remember, Europe was ruled mostly by monarchs."

French emperor Napoleon III "was no friend of the Union and was definitely a friend of the Confederacy and flirted with the Confederacy constantly with the possible recognition of the Confederate government," Hayes-Bautista said. President Abraham Lincoln never referred to the Confederacy as a separate government: they were states in rebellion," the professor said.

Napoleon III's plan was to instill a monarchy over Mexico and "have that monarch cooperate with the Confederacy," Hayes-Bautista said.

In early spring 1862, the Union army was unable to move against the Confederates, and American democracy was "apparently not doing too well," Hayes-Bautista said.

The French entry into Mexico troubled Hispanics, Hayes-Bautista said.

"Latinos in California were reading about every single battle of the Civil War," he said. "They were very well-informed, and they were reading with a three-week delay of similarly detailed reports from Mexico. So by early May, the French were about 60 miles from Mexico City as some Latinos feared that the Civil War might be over."

But the Mexican army prevailed, and the Spanish-language newspapers in California reported the victory with such headlines as "HURRAH FOR MEXICO!!! HURRAH FOR INDEPENDENCE!"

In his book, Hayes-Bautista writes: "In town after town, camp after camp, mine after mine, ranch after ranch, Latinos eagerly absorbed the news. Those who could read shared the glorious details with their illiterate fellows, and up and down the state, Latinos savored the blow-by-blow reporting from the front lines of the conflict that had so riveted their attention."

The Cinco de Mayo victory was then memorialized through a network of Latino groups called "juntas patrioticas mejicanas," or Mexican patriotic assemblies, mostly in California but also in Oregon, Nevada and Arizona, with 14,000 members, Hayes-Bautista said.

The juntas celebrated Cinco de Mayo with monthly parades, speeches, dances, banquets and bull fights as a morale builder for Lincoln and Mexican President Benito Juarez, who, despite the Cinco de Mayo victory, was subsequently engaged in a three-year struggle against foreign occupation until 1867.

"From 1862 to 1867, the public memory of Cinco de Mayo was forged in the American West," Hayes-Bautista said.

Briefly after the Civil War, veterans of the Union and Mexican armies would put on their uniforms and give speeches every Cinco de Mayo, he said.

But by 1890, the grandchildren of the veterans and juntas had to be taught about Cinco de Mayo, Hayes-Bautista said.

The meaning of the holiday changed over time, becoming a David versus Goliath tale among Mexican immigrants in the 1930s and embodying U.S.-Mexico unity during World War II and Chicano Power in the 1960s and 1970s, Hayes-Bautista said.

In his book, he described Cinco de Mayo's "undeniable commercialization in the late 20th century, a fake holiday recently invented by beverage companies."

In his interview with CNN, Hayes-Bautista stated: "Now it's become this big commercial holiday and a wonderful opportunity to get services and products in front of the Latino market and it even got its own postage in 1996 and in 2005 President Bush even had a Cinco de Mayo celebration at the White House.

"But if you ask why is anyone celebrating, no one knows. And then you get some people who say it shouldn't be celebrated at all because it's a foreign holiday -- and yet it's as American a holiday as the Fourth of July," he said.

"No one has seemed to link it to the Civil War," he added about what he called groundbreaking research.

UCLA history professor Stephen Aron said Hayes-Bautista's finding is significant.

"For the general public (and even for many historians), the California origins of the Cinco de Mayo holiday come as quite a surprise (since the holiday is so generally presumed to be a Mexican holiday that was only recently imported into the United States)," Aron said in an e-mail to CNN. "That Hayes-Bautista's book ties these origins to the American Civil War is also of great significance."

Rounding out the new research into Cinco de Mayo is Hayes-Bautista's family legend that recounts how his great-great-grandfather Bartolo Bautista was part of local militia supporting the Mexican army in the Battle of Puebla.

His ancestor, who hailed from the town of San Miguel de Atlautla just below the snow line on the volcano Popocatepetl, was taken prisoner but was spared execution by a French army firing squad after it saw he had a birthmark over his heart.

The mark was in the shape of a hand with all five fingers clearly visible, Hayes-Bautista said. The French firing squad had told the prisoners to remove their shirts because the soldiers intended to use the clothing.

Superstitious of the birth mark, the French let the man go, Hayes-Bautista said.

On Saturday, 150 years later, Hayes-Bautista is scheduled to participate in a Cinco de Mayo celebration at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a Smithsonian affiliate in downtown Los Angeles.

[Alejandro24 575]

US-Americans don't know what this day really means. Isn't a party, is a conmemorative date. Is a day of honor for our army.

Including the way that the US-Americans take this day as another fest in the calendar is really offensive. And the latinos or another mexican heritage people are triators to promove this day of remembrance as another day of fest. Many of them really need an urgent lesson of history.

Don't know why, but I wrote a status update about this day and it was deleted. Censorship in ST? Outrageous!

¡Guerra, guerra sin tregua al que intente

de la patria manchar los blasones!

¡guerra, guerra! los patrios pendones

en las olas de sangre empapad.

¡Guerra, guerra! en el monte, en el valle,

los cañones horrísonos truenen

y los ecos sonoros resuenen

con las voces de ¡Unión! ¡Libertad!.

  Edited May 6, 2012 by Alejandro24  

[hym 358]

US-Americans don't know what this day really means. Isn't a party, is a conmemorative date. Is a day of honor for our army.

Plenty of Americans are aware of the significance of Cinco de Mayo. I'm one of them.

Including the way that the US-Americans take this day as another fest in the calendar is really offensive.

Let's look at a list of American holidays and how they're celebrated:

• New Year's Day: Most Americans are either throwing a party or attending one.
  
• Martin Luther King Day: I'm sure people celebrate this one for reasons other than getting a day off work or school, but I don't know anyone that does, so I'm at a loss here.
  
• Groundhog Day: Celebrations vary between people. Some don't do anything, and others use it as an excuse for partying.
  
• Valentine's Day: American men spend entirely too much money buying American women stuff they likely don't need and would probably be better off not having. Also jokingly referred to as "Singles Awareness Day."
  
• Washington's Birthday: Supposed to be a memorial day to George Washington. Has turned into a day to honor past Presidents. Also jokingly referred to as "National Buy a Mattress Day."
  
• Easter: Frequently celebrated by throwing parties for children involving Easter egg hunts.
  
• Earth Day: Most of the people I have seen celebrating this day have had small events and parties of sorts.
  
• National Arbor Day: I'm sure people celebrate this one, but I don't know anyone who does.
  
• Mother's Day: Frequently people celebrate this one with Hallmark cards and food. Busiest restaurant day of the year.
  
• Memorial Day: Frequently celebrated by barbecue events and small parties.
  
• Flag Day: Don't know anyone that celebrates this one.
  
• Father's Day: Often gets celebrated a lot like Memorial Day.
  
• Independence Day: Once again, a majority of Americans are throwing parties of one sort or another.
  
• Labor Day: This is a holiday that gets celebrated more like a weekend, and that weekend frequently includes a party of some sort or another..
  
• Columbus Day: The people I know that celebrate this (though there aren't many) typically throw events that look a lot like Labor Day parties.
  
• Halloween: Another party for the kids.
  
• Veteran's Day: How Americans celebrate this one varies quite a bit. Many mark the occasion in a solemn manner, while some mark it with another party.
  
• Thanksgiving: Typically celebrated with family parties and dinners.
  
• Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day: Don't know anyone that celebrates this one.
  
• Christmas Day: More parties along with the gift sharing.
  

Those are just the federally observed holidays. There's the unofficial ones also. To many, St. Patrick's Day is an excuse to be Irish for a day, even if you don't have a drop of Irish blood in you. Then there's Mardi Gras. Every year, millions of Americans make a quasi-pilgrimage to New Orleans just to enjoy a week of partying.

Do you notice a trend here? Americans are generally quite happy to celebrate a wide variety of holidays, events, special occasions, and so forth. It's proof of the diversity of American cultural and of the American people, and we have created an American way to celebrate it. We throw parties. Buying a house? Housewarming party! Having a kid? Baby shower! It's your birthday? Birthday party! Getting married? Bachelor/bachelorette party! We'll throw a party for just about anything if you give us a good excuse. The fact that Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo with parties isn't disrespect. It's how Americans typically celebrate stuff.

[Meg 368]

Like I said, this is the first I've heard of it.

Previous explanation was "it's the Mexican version of the 4th of July"

[Alejandro24 575]

US-Americans don't know what this day really means. Isn't a party, is a conmemorative date. Is a day of honor for our army.

Plenty of Americans are aware of the significance of Cinco de Mayo. I'm one of them. [1]

Including the way that the US-Americans take this day as another fest in the calendar is really offensive.

Let's look at a list of American holidays and how they're celebrated:

...

Those are just the federally observed holidays. There's the unofficial ones also. To many, St. Patrick's Day is an excuse to be Irish for a day, even if you don't have a drop of Irish blood in you. Then there's Mardi Gras. Every year, millions of Americans make a quasi-pilgrimage to New Orleans just to enjoy a week of partying.

Do you notice a trend here? Americans are generally quite happy to celebrate a wide variety of holidays, events, special occasions, and so forth. It's proof of the diversity of American cultural and of the American people, and we have created an American way to celebrate it. We throw parties. Buying a house? Housewarming party! Having a kid? Baby shower! It's your birthday? Birthday party! Getting married? Bachelor/bachelorette party! We'll throw a party for just about anything if you give us a good excuse. The fact that Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo with parties isn't disrespect. It's how Americans typically celebrate stuff. [2]

[1] Really? Tell me the history of the Battle of Puebla.

[2] Don't you see, is capitalism, the corporations take any excuse to make the people spend their money in absurd things. Housewarming? That's strange. Also we're watching the cultural shock. US-Americans make a party only because some commercial company started a campaing about this event, make a party!, buy our beers for your guests.... And that's what happened with this day. US-Amercians have a strange trend of to make everything a Disneyland, if you don't believe me just take a look at Columbus, New Mexico.

Like I said, this is the first I've heard of it.

Previous explanation was "it's the Mexican version of the 4th of July"

4th of July? Our independence day is in September 16!!

  Edited May 6, 2012 by Alejandro24  

[Meg 368]

Don't you see, is capitalism, the corporations take any excuse to make the people spend their money in absurd things. Housewarming? That's strange. Also we're watching the cultural shock. US-Americans make a party only because some commercial company started a campaing about this event, make a party!, buy our beers for your guests.... And that's what happened with this day. US-Amercians have a strange trend of to make everything a Disneyland, if you don't believe me just take a look at Columbus, New Mexico.

Of course I believe you. Valentine's days is a holiday created by corporations.. They do it all the time.

(What's strange about a housewarming party? People move into a new place and invite their friends over.)

Like I said, this is the first I've heard of it.

Previous explanation was "it's the Mexican version of the 4th of July"

4th of July? Our independence day is in September 16!!

I didn't it was accurate. I said it was the explanation I was given.

I can understand why the commercialization upsets you. My parents are upset that Memorial day has turned into a picnic to start the summer when it's supposed to be a day about remembering the deceased, particularly the deceased service members.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Like I said, this is the first I've heard of it.

Previous explanation was "it's the Mexican version of the 4th of July"

Its no surprise you have not heard of it,you may not have a large Hispanic population in the Maryland/DC area.

We turn every thing into a commercialized party. Even the Quinceañera parties have become commercialized here.

[hym 358]

[1] Really? Tell me the history of the Battle of Puebla.

It wasn't my intent to suggest that I knew specific details of the Battle of Puebla. I am aware of the fact that it commemorates an important military victory against France, not Mexican independence as some people think.

][2] Don't you see, is capitalism, the corporations take any excuse to make the people spend their money in absurd things.

That may well be, but corporations usually follow major public holidays, not create them.

Housewarming? That's strange.

It's relative to culture. A housewarming may be strange in some parts of the world, but it's a totally normal part of American culture, and it's not because of corporations either. It's a tradition that grew out of another facet of American culture.

Also we're watching the cultural shock. US-Americans make a party only because some commercial company started a campaing about this event, make a party!, buy our beers for your guests....

Not at all. As I said earlier, Americans will celebrate a lot of stuff if you give them a good enough reason to do so. I've been to parties to celebrate engagements, marriages, movie releases, video game releases, baptisms, confirmations, fraternity/sorority initiations, honor society inductions, and more. I've even been to parties held for no reason other than having a party.

US-Amercians have a strange trend of to make everything a Disneyland, if you don't believe me just take a look at Columbus, New Mexico.

As I said earlier, there is a strong American tendency to celebrate by throwing a party of some sorts. It's not disrespect. It's part of the American culture.

[krbe 193]

As I said earlier, there is a strong American tendency to celebrate by throwing a party of some sorts. It's not disrespect. It's part of the American culture.

I notice Americans do not mark any American wars with alcohol and barbeques? I do not necessarily propose celebrating getting slain by Viet Cong, but there's plenty of World Wars, Indian wars and wars against the British that were succsessful. Seems more valid than celebrating trees, anyway.

If you move the drinking three days, Americans could celebrate the WWII victory in Europe (which, for clarity, is marked 5 May in certain countries) instead.

  Edited May 6, 2012 by krbe  

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The basic problem is that the true meaning of many of these commemorative days are blotted out by the alcoholic commercialism. I've always considered the Memorial Day automobile race to be rather disrespectful of the honored dead.

Does anyone attend anything at the cenotaphs?

Remembrance Day in Canada (November 11) is a day of national remembrance and mourning commemorating, officially, the moment of the truce at the end of World War I. However, it has been extended in remembrance of all of our people who were sacrificed on the altar of war. We do not celebrate. We attend the services then go home and think about it.

In the National War Museum at Ottawa there is a window so placed that if it is sunny on Remembrance Day, the sun illuminates a particular commemorative exhibit at 1100 hours. This is the most solemn day of our year, but it usually is only a half-day off.

  Edited May 6, 2012 by A Nonny Moose  

[hym 358]

As I said earlier, there is a strong American tendency to celebrate by throwing a party of some sorts. It's not disrespect. It's part of the American culture.

I notice Americans do not mark any American wars with alcohol and barbeques? I do not necessarily propose celebrating getting slain by Viet Cong, but there's plenty of World Wars, Indian wars and wars against the British that were succsessful. Seems more valid than celebrating trees, anyway.

You'll also notice that, with the exception of Memorial Day and Veterans Day, there are no major holidays to mark US armed conflicts (and neither of those holidays are celebrated for their original purpose anymore). For whatever reason, US culture is such that wars are memorialized, but not commemorated with national holidays. That's probably a significant part of the reason why people generally don't observe dates associated with US armed conflicts.

A couple other things are worth noting here:

• What constitutes a "good enough reason" can vary greatly. I see no reason to celebrate Halloween, but it is one of the biggest party days of the year.
  
• It's a misconception that parties have to include alcohol. I've seen quite a few recycling parties thrown in commemoration of Earth Day.