What absurdity
Posted by Robbie53024 10 years, 7 months ago to Culture
In the first place, Cinco de Mayo is only a minor holiday in Mexico - no, it doesn't represent their Independence Day, it commemorates the battle of Puebla which was a minor thing. Sep 16 is the real Mexico Independence Day. So all this fuss is over nothing.
Second, whatever happened to free speech? Seems you are allowed to bash the US whenever/wherever you want but try to show some pride and you're shut down.
Second, whatever happened to free speech? Seems you are allowed to bash the US whenever/wherever you want but try to show some pride and you're shut down.
Every year, I celebrate April 30th. This is Camerone Day, a day in 1863 when French Foreign Legionnaires embarrassed the hell out of Mexican regulars. Not long after that, thanks in part to the courage of the FFL at Camerone, the city of Puebla fell to the French forces....
Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of the defeat of French forces by Mexican forces near Puebla on May 5, 1862... roughly a year earlier.
Irony; our allies the French, without whose assistance we might well not have a nation, were eventually driven from Mexico by the aid rendered to Mexico by the U.S. Keep this in mind; there is NO antagonism on the part of America involved in the events being commemorated on Cinco de Mayo; we had nothing to do with it, and in fact later helped Mexico throw off the French. Therefore, if anything, American flags should be welcome at any Cinco de Mayo celebration... at least by anyone aware of the actual events being celebrated.
This is a Mexican nationalist celebration, nothing more or less, and it cannot be likened to St Patrick's Day or other cultural holiday inherited from other immigrant ethnicities.
What the protestors should have done, had they wished to be provocative and insulting, was wear FRENCH flags. Or, hold a rally commemorating Camerone Day on April 30th (like I do), or hold celebrations on April 21st to commemorate San Jacinto day... the day Texican forces beat hell out of Mexican forces and won Texas its independence.
There is no reason to commemorate Cinco de Mayo in the U.S. It has nothing to do with the U.S., it is not a cultural phenomenon like St Patrick's Day. It is a purely nationalist celebration. Commemorating it would make as much sense as celebrating Runnymede, where King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta. Or Waterloo, where Napoleon was finally defeated by a coalition of European nations, in Belgium, commanded by a British general, Wellington. Note the lack of American involvement.
Cinco de Mayo is just a very visible example of Mexican and other Latin American peoples wanting what the U.S. has to offer without embracing our culture and values. Modern day Conquistadors. Hmm...
For a thousand years, Spain was largely ruled by Islam... what portions were spared Islamic rule were generally under the thumb of the then-draconian Catholic church (in part a reaction to the occupation by Islam).
Eventually Spain threw off Islamic rule, but after a thousand years, had assimilated much of the cultural influences of the Islamic conquerors. When they got to the new world, they created the Conquistadors. It is no surprise to me that the lands they conquered reflected the cultural heritage of Spain-under-Islam.
For me, this explains Mexico et al succinctly. Both their histories and cultures... and failure.
Camerone Day:
http://foreignlegion.info/battle-of-came...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_...
Cinco De Mayo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_M...