As Cinco de Mayo rolls around again, maybe you should spend a second thinking about what it means to you. If you only care about pounding some quesadillas and chimichangas while guzzling down a trough of margarita, perhaps you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself. Wreck yourself on the shores of casual racism that is.
Did you know that Cinco de Mayo celebrates the victory of the outmatched and under equipped Mexican army over the much larger and better armed French as the battle of Puebla on May 5th 1865? In what might not have been a strategic victory, but was certainly a symbolic one, it proved that Mexico had the power to come together and unite against a much larger foe, and probably prevented the French from gaining a foothold from where it could help the Confederacy during the Civil War. It was also the last time a country in the Americas had ever been invaded by a European power. Plus it was lead by General Ignacio Zaragoza. That’s right, General Nacho himself saved the day, all so you could enjoy some nachos today instead of some Escargots de Bourgogne.
Now I’m not saying you shouldn’t enjoy Cinco de Mayo, and incidentally the 4th anniversary of the launch of Nachonomics, but maybe while you are enjoying your nachos tonight remember not just nacho creator Ignacio Anaya, but also General Ignacio Zaragoza as well. Unless you want some Escargots, in which case maybe you need to head over to France where you can celebrate “Mai Cinquième” or whatever. Bastille day maybe? I don’t know.
