Bruce Hobson has lived and worked in both México and the United States and currently co-edits the México Solidarity Bulletin. We've adopted this reflection on Cinco de Mayo from his analysis just published by Liberation Road.

Mexican Culture: Not a Costume

The excitement over the victory against the French in 1862 traveled from Puebla to the West Coast of the United States during the US Civil War. México had abolished slavery when it won its independence from Spain in 1821, and Mexican Americans saw the Puebla victory as a win for sovereignty and democracy and against enslavement and empire. At the same time, México enthusiastically supported the Union, worried that if the Confederates succeeded, Mexicans, non-white people, would also face subjugation.

The significance of Cinco de Mayo for those in the United States was begun by Mexicans living on the West Coast during the US Civil War. Mexicans in the American West also celebrated in hopes that the Union might be victorious and end slavery and racist practices in the United States. They commemorated the Puebla victory with parades, dances, and banquets, part of why the event remains so anticipated in the United States, not in Mexico…

But Cinco de Mayo as many know it now is removed from its original context. The market for alcohol and Mexican food during the holiday has been seized by US capitalism. In the 1980s, US beer companies saw the vibrant Cinco de Mayo celebrations as an opportunity for profit. They’ve associated Cinco de Mayo with drunk white people in sombreros, not the deep history of Mexican culture in the United States. When beer and salsa go on sale on Cinco de Mayo, it is clear that profit is the priority. Taking advantage of a holiday as an opportunity to party erases its cultural significance. Mexicans get stereotyped and marginalized for practicing their culture, others wear costumes they throw away after recuperating from their Cinco de Mayo hangovers.