The Battle of Puebla

Today is Cinco De Mayo and I know I'm not the only one who has thought to blog about this mysterious and historically misunderstood holiday. I think it's probably close to common knowledge by now that Cinco De Mayo, despite its affect on 20-something urban Americans, is NOT Mexico's independence day.

That day would be Sept. 16th which is when it is celebrated in Mexico. This is a good thing because it means that Mexico knows when its own independence day is. The Cinco De Mayo holiday commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862

I kinda like the fact that they are content letting their misinformed northern neighbors go on celebrating the wrong holiday; as if to say, "yeah keep celebrating you stupid gringos...you got the day wrong but thanks for paying attention and caring about our country's history. Just for that, we're gonna laugh at you being wrong, shake our heads, and not say anything."

In Mexico, May 5th, though significant in Mexico's history as a day when they whooped some French ass, is a rather arbitrary day when it comes to celebrating however. According to Wikipedia, the most trusted name in the world of information, Cinco De Mayo has a very limited significance in Mexico. Now if it were the U.S. that was outnumbered against the French and we came back and dominated, you can almost guarantee that we would have the day off......perhaps even a 4 day weekend kinda holiday.....you know, because we hate the French.

The real people who feel independent on Cinco De Mayo, are the young white people who go out and get plastered on margheritas until they think they're Mexican. Next time you're out on Cinco De Mayo, take a look around and tell me if you see any Mexicans "going big" on several pitchers of Dos Equis Amber. If you live in NYC like me, you're likely to just see 5 girls straight out of college deciding "should I get the strawberry, or should I get mango".....and they will all be white chicks.

I guess I'm just too cool for school or something. I have some latant inclination to not celebrate things that neither I nor my heritage had nothing to do with. I've done nothing historically significant and nor has anyone in my family. The fact that I'm an ethnic mut means that I have nothing to really cling on to. I might as well get absolutely pasted on bastille day or flag day! Don't misunderstand me, you might very well catch me drinking Guiness on St. Patrick's day, or even throwing back a few dozen Corona's on Cinco De Mayo.......but I'm not really celebrating that, I'm just celebrating "thursday". Because that's the life and heritage I've been dealt.

So be it though, don't let that stop you from celebrating any holiday with which you have no connection. Happy Battle of Puebla day!