Although it's only the beginning of the week, I'm sure many of you have already made drinking arrangements for Friday, the infamous Cinco de Mayo holiday.
Some of you will be ordering tart margaritas at Dos Gringos or Salty Senoritas, feeling crazy with a sombrero on your head and all of your American friends alongside. Others will be hosting or attending house parties with cute little pinatas hanging everywhere.
I would like to make a bet that many people who are planning to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at events like these are not celebrating the holiday. In fact, most don't even know what the holiday is about.
Cinco de Mayo is a non-American holiday that gives Americans an excuse to drink.
For anyone who still thinks Cinco de Mayo is equivalent to America's Fourth of July -- you're wrong. It is not Mexican Independence Day. It is a holiday that remembers the battle of Puebla. The battle occurred on May 5, 1862, in Puebla, Mexico. Four thousand Mexican soldiers battled the French and traitor Mexican army to overthrow the empire of Maximiliano of Habsburgo.
California and Texas were the first two American states to acknowledge and celebrate the holiday. Nowadays other Southwest states like Arizona and New Mexico take part.
Personally, I find it ironic that Americans are willing to celebrate a Mexican holiday, but not its people.
With all of the immigration debate happening, it's simply hypocritical that Americans go out and celebrate a Mexican holiday while simultaneously complaining about illegal immigration.
There would be great controversy if a bar that catered to Mexicans, in the way that Dos Gringos and Salty Senoritas draws a predominantly Caucasian crowd, hosted huge Fourth of July parties.
Americans would scratch their heads and say, "Why are Mexicans celebrating our holiday?" Of course, there are not any predominantly Mexican bars that plan Fourth of July parties. If there were, I'm sure Americans would be raising hell over it.
When Americans go out on Cinco de Mayo and get drunk just for the sake of getting drunk, isn't it a little insulting to Mexicans and their culture?
Speaking of culture, why is it that Americans flock to bars like Dos Gringos and Salty Senoritas anyway? They eat Mexican food, sit in a colorful environment that is supposed to reflect the look of Mexico, and drink Coronas.
All of these things go down so easy. But when it comes to the people who originated all the food, drink and culture that we seem to enjoy so much, we don't want anything to do with them. That is, until we want the plate sullied with the remnants of enchiladas, rice, and black beans to be taken out of our sight by the Mexican bus boy.
Is Americans' celebration of Cinco de Mayo sending a misrepresented message to another culture? If you are whining about illegal immigration, but celebrating a Mexican holiday, maybe you should reconsider your beliefs. It's not fair for anyone to accept a culture, but refuse its people.
Sara Sturges is a journalism senior. Send your Cinco de Mayo thoughts to ssturges@imap2.asu.edu.
