The Secret of Cinco de Mayo

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As an Irish boy from Texas, I'm usually more amused than perplexed by what passes as St. Patrick's Day in Dallas. I know, I know--everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's day, but that still doesn't explain why a large percentage of the populace paint themselves green and wear New Orleans juju beads and drink copious amounts of Guinness on public thoroghfares in the wee hours of the morning. Okay, the Guinness part I understand, but I don't get the connection between St. Patrick and the Hulk.

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If everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day, then everybody's Mexican on Cinco de Mayo. Coronas stand in for Guinness, we all become experts on Mexican cuisine and we all find another excuse to get soused. At least we don't put green dye in the Coronas. I'm not knocking it, mind you--it's a nice little party. It's just that we gringoes don't quite get it.

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We like to label Cinco de Mayo as Mexican Independence Day, which it isn't. Mexico declared independence from Spain 15 September 1810. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla, 5 May 1862, in which a heavily outnumbered, ragtag force of Mexicans, mostly Mestizo and Zapotec Indians called Zacapoaxtlas, defeated the French army of Napoleon III. It was a short-lived victory, since the French regrouped and eventually put Maxmillan in power in Mexico for a few years. Still, the Battle of Puebla is one of those inspirational events that speak to the universality of the human spirit.

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It's fitting that Cinco de Mayo is celebrated more north of the border than it is in Mexico. At the time of the battle, the United States was embroiled in its Civil War, and the French viewed it as an opportunity to stop the Monroe Doctrine's manifesto of one country that spanned the continent. They were already funding the Confederacy in an attempt to slow down the United States' westward expansion. While it may be a stretch to hint that the Battle of Puebla had a hand in saving the United States, it can't be denied that Mexico slowed France's empirical dreams that day. Today's world could be very different had it not been for what hapened Cinco de Mayo 1862.

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All of that being said, it's no small wonder that Cinco de Mayo today is a day of celebration and festivity. I think it's important to remember that we Americans are not an island unto ourselves today. We've had a lot of help through the years, often forgotten because the measures are often small and forgotten in the mix of the Melting Pot. Cinco de Mayo reminds us we'd be a very bland country were it not for the spice of bravery.

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