Cinco De Mayo is officially a celebration of the 1862 victory of Mexican forces at the Battle of Puebla over French invaders. It is actually an excuse for people in southwestern states, especially Texas, to get silly on margaritas and scarf up a lot of tacos and fajitas with queso while listening to mariachi music and maybe wear a sombrero. Even though Mexicans do not make the day a big celebration and are annoyed that people north of the border do, the day has been considered harmless fun, sort of a Hispanic version of St. Patrick’s Day. Naturally, as the Daily Caller noted, some people find the whole thing an example of cultural appropriation.
A professor and a student at the University of Arizona took umbrage to the idea of non-Hispanics using Cinco de Mayo as an excuse to have a party.
Michelle Télez, who teaches Mexican American Studies, complaining that too many people celebrate the day without understanding its meaning. Belén Grijalva, a Mexican student at UA, added, “-they just take our culture just to make fun of it or to celebrate something that is not even theirs.”
Mind, the Irish don’t make these kinds of complaints during St Patrick’s Day nor do the Germans when Octoberfest rolls around. Only a few members of specific minority groups, possessed with the wish to be aggrieved, tend to complain.
Houston, the vibrant multi-cultural city where this writer resides, has a proper, adult attitude toward the concept of cultural appropriation. It is highly encouraged.
Besides Cinco de Mayo, St.
Patrick’s Day, Octoberfest, not to mention Texas holidays such as Texas Independence Day, Houston’s various ethnic groups throw day or weekend long celebrations showcasing their various cultures and invite everyone to participate.
One favorite ethnic holiday that takes place every fall in Houston is called the Greek Festival.
Every year a couple of blocks around the local Eastern Orthodox Church are secured against traffic and everyone is invited to come down and stuff themselves with baklava, and gyro sandwiches washed down with Greek wine. The church is opened up to tours, and lots of handicrafts are exchanged for money. A great time is had by all.
Nobody complains that the vast majority of people who come to the Greek Festival are not Greek.
So, here is some sage advice for the entitlement-addled millennials and commie academics. Get a life. And join the rest of us in some Corona and lime. And for our friends from France, condolences.
