What is significant about the fifth day of May? In Spanish, May 5th means Cinco de Mayo.
On May 4, 2011, four men were stopped at random in North Block and asked, “What is Cinco de Mayo celebrated for?” The first wasn’t sure, “It’s their independence, right?” The second man was more certain: “It’s the Mexican Independence Day.” The third person replied, “It’s the day the Mexicans kicked the French out of Mexico.” Finally, the fourth man said, “It’s to celebrate independence from a brief occupation.”
These four men were non-Hispanic and born in the United States. Therefore, what is “El Cinco de Mayo?” For starters, it is not Mexican Independence Day – that is Sept. 16, 1821. May 5 is the anniversary of the victory of Mexico over French forces at Puebla in 1862.
Cinco de Mayo occurred after soldiers from the United Kingdom, France and Spain invaded and occupied Veracruz in 1862 to collect debts from Mexico.
The British and Spaniards soon left Mexico after they saw that the French were more interested in political power than in collecting debts.
Cinco de Mayo thus commemorates the victory of a Mexican army over a French army at the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. The Mexican army, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza, won the battle even though the French forces were better armed and three times as large. Do all Mexican Nationals celebrate El Cinco de Mayo? Four “Paisa” were asked. All confirmed that El Cinco de Mayo is not a national holiday in Mexico. It is more of a regional or state holiday in southern Mexico and heavily celebrated in tourist towns for the sake of Americans. Laurence Romero, a paisa, thought Cinco de Mayo was to celebrate Cesar Chavez or Mexican independence. And a paisa named Mendoza, who arrived in the U.S. as a boy, only knew that Cinco de Mayo was a day to go cruising! Ay, caramba!
