THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CINCO DE MAYO

In June of 2007, the Congress asked President Bush to issue a resolution proclaiming the significance of the 5th of May, commonly referred to around the world as Cinco de Mayo. The occasion recognized one of the most important events in world history.

On May 5th, 1862 an outnumbered group of Mexican soldiers defeated an eight thousand man French army under the command of Napoleon. The French were attempting to expand their influence into the western hemisphere.

According to a number of esteemed historians, had the French defeated the Mexican Army, they would have then joined forces with the Confederacy, which was in the midst of the Civil War with the North.

Among other things, a Confederate victory would have extended chattel slavery and possibly split the American nation into two countries, the North and the South. Battered by the Mexican Army,  the French decided to stay out of the Civil War and eventually the North was able to defeat the South, whose economy was based on the suffering and bondage of African-Americans.

The celebration of Cinco de Mayo began in the1860s shortly after the Battle of Puebla, during which the French were handed an embarrassing defeat that stifled their global ambitions, and enabled the North to emerge victorious. In 1862, the president of Mexico declared Cinco de Mayo a national holiday.

Primarily Mexican-American communities in Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona were among the first to acknowledge Cinco de Mayo. It became a major cultural festival that people whose roots were in a great land south of the American border set aside as notable.

The celebration of Cinco de Mayo has spread beyond Mexico and the United States to Canada, Australia, the Caribbean, Africa and England. Governments the world over have recognized the necessity to understand and appreciate this turning point in Mexican and world history, particularly that of the United States.

I am concerned, however, that not enough of our population understands the importance of this hallowed day. Its origin and its meaning should be taught to all American school children, not simply those of Mexican ancestry.

Yes, Cinco de Mayo is a major event in the life of the Mexican nation, but it is of equal importance in the life of the American nation. Imagine what would have occurred if the French had joined forces with the South, enabling the Confederate states to continue their war against our nation.

No doubt, President Lincoln would not have been in a position to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, and slavery would have continued. African-American families would have continued to be fractured, and people would have continued in bondage.

It is interesting how we touch one another’s lives. Certainly those Mexican soldiers that stood tall and defeated a French army twice their size, had no idea what impact their heroics would have on the history of our country, and the dismantling of one of the cruelest institutions ever known to humanity. We must all celebrate May 5th, and we must celebrate it together. Viva Cinco de Mayo!