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| How many people think this is cute? |
It
was just the other day that one of my neighbors had their young daughter go
door-to-door around the neighborhood, handing out invitations to the party
they’re planning to have Saturday afternoon into early evening.
THE
WHOLE BLOCK, it seems, is invited to share in a joint celebration featuring
Mexican-themed food and drink, along with some music.
Did
I say this isn’t a Spanish-speaking neighborhood? I may well be the lone Latino
living on the block. Do I think this means my neighbors have some particular
sensitivity to ethnicity and culture and history?
I
sincerely doubt it.
I
wouldn’t be the least bit shocked if the fact that Saturday has some sort of
holiday attached to it is merely a chance for them to party – and perhaps they
think it will be a novelty to offer up margaritas; along with food items that
will make the servings at a standard-issue Taco Bell franchise seem to have a
touch of authenticity.
WHICH
IS WHY I doubt I’ll be out amongst my neighbors – that, and I do have a touch
of anti-social behavior in me. If I did go out there, I’d probably be the
crackpot who’d want to turn the whole thing into a history lesson.
And
I don’t doubt in the least that many of the people who will be doing something
to mark Saturday, the Fifth of May, probably have no clue (or any interest in
learning) the significance of the date in Mexican history.
What
it is is the 156th anniversary of the date that a Mexican resistance
group attacked a military garrison in Pueblo (a city located near the capital
of Mexico City) and actually managed to drive the troops from the city.
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| Maximilian I, the Austrian puppet for France who tried ruling over Mexico |
WHICH
LED THE French to think they could confiscate Mexico (which had declared its
independence from Spain in 1810 – Independence Day is Sept. 16) and claim it
for themselves.
Cinco
de Mayo pays tribute to those Mexicans who were willing to stand up for the
idea of their home nation as independent and were able to beat what was back
then one of the world’s great military powers.
Those
modern-day cynics eager to berate Mexico for any reason they can conjure will
point out that the French eventually retook their garrison, and that the
conflict between the French-backed Mexican emperor (Maximillian of Austria, a
French puppet) and the Mexican people lingered on into a stalemate for several years.
But
in the way the United States and Mexico intertwine, the end of the U.S. Civil
War in 1865 resulted in military aid to the Mexican resistance – which resulted
two years later in France giving up its colonial dreams and pulling out their
military. The end result was Maximillian being put before a firing squad on
June 19, 1867.
U.S.
OFFICIALS felt compelled to back Mexicans because the official Mexico
government of Maximillian was a Confederate-supporting one – and one that
likely would have sent the French military across the Rio Grande into the
so-called Confederacy to fight for the cause of splitting the country they
helped create some 80 years earlier.
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| Mexicans enjoy beisbol too |
Not
that I expect many people today to have any knowledge, or interest, of these
events. All too many think Cinco de Mayo is the equivalent of Fourth of July
and are more interested in where they can find the cheapest margarita or
burrito deal.
Personally,
I’d think more highly of them if they followed my lead – taking time out to
watch this weekend’s series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.
Which
is being billed informally as the “Mexico Series” because the regular season
games are being played at the home ballpark of the Monterey Sultans of the
Mexican League.
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