cinco de mayo.
i know we're in december, but i just remembered one thing that bothers me about america. and that is the fact that some people (who aren't even mexican or of mexican ancestry) that celebrate the mexican holiday.
i remember when i was in elementary school, we used to do this huge parade with traditional dancers and stuff like that. and i used to like it cause we would miss half of the school day for these celebrations. and it was warranted cause the majority of the kids at my elementary were mexican-americans.
so i remember my mum told me that in mexico its not much of a big deal.
like, they remember it but they don't make these big parties like they do in america. and like, i had an teacher who lives in a neighborhood where a majority of white people live.
she was born in the united states, but her parents were mexican. and she said they had this huge block party with all their other white neighbors and they made a failed attempt at tacos (like those ones with a hardshell and ground beef like you get at taco bell), and decorated with stuff and wore traditional mexican clothes. and my teacher said she felt so insulted because they didn't even know what cinco de mayo was about. they were just looking for a reason to party and dress up like our tradition is a halloween costume.
and that just really bothers me. i honestly feel like its really offensive. that's like me celebrating canadian thanksgiving in october, when i'm not even canadian. or celebrating diada in september when i'm not from catalonia. or dressing up with a native american head dress at fucking coachella when i'm not a native american. its wrong. and you are in no way honoring my country by doing whatever it is you are attempting to do.
catch my drift?
i mean, if you're going to celebrate a tradition that doesn't even belong to you or your country...first of all, just don't. just stop and think about the atrocity you are about to commit. its okay to congratulate said country and mention it. but come on now, its not your party. second of all, become informed as to what this special day is really about.
cinco de mayo celebrates the battle of puebla.
the year was 1862 and the french were trying to invade mexico. the french had one of the best armies in the world at the time and it was such a significant battle to the people of mexico because not only were they able to hold them off, they were able to defeat an army that was much bigger and better equipped than theirs. some of the people fighting for mexico were not even soldiers. about a thousand of them were peasants who fought using common household items.
i remember even reading that they used pots and pans, and even boiling water while the french had guns and horses. the battle of puebla is remembered even though the french ended up taking over mexico. it is remembered because such a small army was able to defeat a military giant like france.
so there.
history lesson.
and today is another historically important day. today is the seventy third year anniversary since pearl harbor was attacked by the japanese, thus dragging america into world war two.
see? the perks of being of two nationalities.
you get invited to two celebrations. lol
anyway, that's it for my rant thing.
-clary xx
