Cinco de Mayo -- Stereotypes & Celebration

Today I am eating some good Mexican food. In my own way, I do this to recognize and celebrate Cinco De Mayo -- I'm guessing along with the vast majority of Americans who go to Mexican restaurants on this day. My grandfather is actually from Mexican heritage, so nothing compares to the food my Grandmother would make me -- but, believe it or not, there is more to Cinco de May than eating Mexican food and sipping margaritas.

Did you know?

Cinco de Mayo actually celebrates the day when 4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862.

The French had landed in Mexico (along with Spanish and English troops) five months earlier on the pretext of collecting Mexican debts from the newly elected government of democratic President (and Indian) Benito Juarez. The English and Spanish quickly made deals and left. The French, however, had different ideas.

Under Emperor Napoleon III, who detested the United States, the French came to stay. They brought a Hapsburg prince with them to rule the new Mexican empire. His name was Maximilian; his wife, Carolota. Napoleon's French Army had not been defeated in 50 years, and it invaded Mexico with the finest modern equipment and with a newly reconstituted Foreign Legion. The French were not afraid of anyone, especially since the United States was embroiled in its own Civil War.

The French Army left the port of Vera Cruz to attack Mexico City to the west, as the French assumed that the Mexicans would give up should their capital fall to the enemy -- as European countries traditionally did.

Under the command of Texas-born General Zaragosa, (and the cavalry under the command of Colonel Porfirio Diaz, later to be Mexico's president and dictator), the Mexicans awaited. Brightly dressed French Dragoons led the enemy columns. The Mexican Army was less stylish.

General Zaragosa ordered Colonel Diaz to take his cavalry, the best in the world, out to the French flanks. In response, the French did a most stupid thing; they sent their cavalry off to chase Diaz and his men, who proceeded to butcher them. The remaining French infantrymen charged the Mexican defenders through sloppy mud from a thunderstorm and through hundreds of head of stampeding cattle stirred up by Indians armed only with machetes.

When the battle was over, many French were killed or wounded and their cavalry was being chased by Diaz' superb horsemen miles away. The Mexicans had won a great victory that kept Napoleon III from supplying the confederate rebels for another year, allowing the United States to build the greatest army the world had ever seen. This grand army smashed the Confederates at Gettysburg just 14 months after the battle of Puebla, essentially ending the Civil War.

Union forces were then rushed to the Texas/Mexican border under General Phil Sheridan, who made sure that the Mexicans got all the weapons and ammunition they needed to expel the French. American soldiers were discharged with their uniforms and rifles if they promised to join the Mexican Army to fight the French. The American Legion of Honor marched in the Victory Parade in Mexico, City.

It might be a historical stretch to credit the survival of the United States to those brave 4,000 Mexicans who faced an army twice as large in 1862. But who knows?

Well, my guess is that most who are out "celebrating" Cinco de Mayo have no clue about the historical signifiance. Actually, what first provoked me to write this today was a story that happened this past Sunday. I went into a Qdoba where we have a friendly relationship with the manager who always smiles at me. Well on Sunday she was wearing a "red pepper hat" and her helper had a hat with "cactuses" on it. I smiled and said to her helper, "Ah, did she make you wear that?" They both laughed.

Then the conversation progressed to what I knew was coming -- I cringed inside.

The manager responded, "Oh, just wait until Tuesday on Cinco de Mayo. I am making one of my male employees wear one of those rugs over his head and a little mustache with a sombrero. He is going to stand outside and give away burrito samples."

I so wanted to say something. But for some reason, I was stilted. She was so elated with her orginal idea and the fact that her bosses had let the individual store managers do whatever they wanted to recognize Cinco de Mayo. Oh my, I thought.

Well, I guess it was a Sunday, so technically it was my day off. Believe it or not, I decided not to destroy her happiness by asking, "So for Martin Luther King Day or African American History Month" do you have employees pass out food in black face or dressed in Fubu clothing?"

To be honest, I am not sure she would have even understood my point. So I ordered my naked chicken burrito and sat down to eat with my partner. Actually, my partner was in shock that I didn't say something to her. He is used to these types of encounters after 14 years with me. LOL

So I am writing this post partly out of guilt for not saying something and also to encourage all of us to explore this topic. When is it okay to dress up as a stereo-typed representation of ethnic minority -- or any group for that matter?

Today I fear there is some employee standing outside Qdoba dressed as a "Mexican" in a rug, mustache and sombrero -- Oh MY! I am sure he is not the only one. So to help ease my guilt and as a way to eduate, please use this amazing resource from Tolerance.org titled SPEAK UP! -- http://www.tolerance.org/speakup/index.html

Yes, indeed...we all have a role to play in eduating on cultural significance around special holidays, observances and ceremonies.

VIVA CINCO DE MAYO!