Margaritas, tacos and plenty of cerveca are what many Americans think of as Cinco de Mayo rolls around each spring. But a UCLA professor believes that most don’t have a clue behind the reasoning for the celebration.
Dr. David Hayes-Bautista, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture UCLA’s School of Medicine, plans to demystify and explain the history and significance of Cinco de Mayo in a lecture Monday on campus. His research focuses on the dynamics of the health of the Latino population.
The free lecture is part of Fresno State’s Hispanic Heritage Month and will be held in Fresno State’s Satellite Student Union. The lecture begins at 1 p.m.
Inspired by the approaching 150-year anniversary of Cinco de Mayo, Hayes-Bautista wrote a book called “El Cinco de Mayo. An American Tradition,” which is to be released May 5, 2012.
“I decided to write a book about Cinco de Mayo because, quite frankly, people don’t understand what happened,” Hayes-Bautista said. “Many people count it as Mexican Drinking de Mayo.”
In the lecture he will discuss the contents of his book including why Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo while those in Mexico don’t nearly as much, he said.
“Cinco de Mayo is important to California because it was invented here,” Hayes-Bautista said. “It provides a collective identity for all Latinos, whether they were born here in California or immigrated from Mexico, Central America or South America. It binds them together in an idcv cbvvaerentity.”
Originally, Cinco de Mayo was celebrated because Latinos in California were excited that Mexico had won a victory over forces representing slavery in the Battle of Puebla against French forces on May 5, 1862.
Latinos all over California rejoiced and celebrated with fireworks, patriotic songs and impromptu speeches, Hayes-Bautista said.
“Cinco de Mayo is an American war celebration over the stances of Latinos on freedom and democracy,” Hayes-Bautista said. “There is a reason that the Battle of Puebla resonated with people 1,500 miles away.”
Hayes-Bautista also noted that Latinos have been present in California for longer than most people think.
“The part of the Latino back-story for the American Civil War most people don’t realize is that Latinos were here during the war,” Hayes-Bautista said. “There was a 52-person Latino militia in Marysville, above Sacramento, during the Civil War.”
Despite the holiday’s history, Hayes-Bautista admitted that Cinco de Mayo has become commercialized, losing its influence on society and some students agree with him.
“It is a little commercialized because nobody knows what it is about. They just know there are big parades and fiestas and piñatas everywhere, just like Halloween,” Breanne Curwick, an animal science undergraduate at Fresno State, said.
Shannon McCobb, an English education undergraduate at Fresno State, said that Cinco de Mayo has been incredibly commercialized.
“I think Cinco de Mayo basically represents the American culture of getting drunk. I don’t think people actually understand what it stands for, because I don’t even know,” McCobb said.
Curwick said that she appreciates the knowledge she received about Cinco de Mayo in Spanish classes.
“We would have celebrations in class on Cinco de Mayo and read about what actually happened,” Curwick said.
She points to the fact that her upbringing as a Mexican-American has greatly influenced her view of the holiday.
“I am half Mexican, but my family feels like they are from America, even though we are of Mexican descent,” Curwick said. “My grandma always says my ancestors are there but I am an American.”
Lauryn Pitts, a biology undergraduate at Fresno State, didn’t know what Cinco de Mayo stood for and thought that a major reason for the day was partying.
“Cinco de Mayo is just an excuse for people to go around and drink some beer-cerveza and an excuse to eat Mexican food,” Pitts said.