Monday was Cinco de Mayo, the holiday signifying the Mexican defeat of the French in 1862. XicanoPwr provided a good history lesson on his blog about the holiday. Since the holiday fell on a Monday this year, I didn’t do anything to celebrate. When I was in college, there would sometimes be a ballet folklorico performance and maybe a lunch time talk about the significance of the holiday, and of course, there would be some sort of party where plenty of tequila and Mexican beer would be available. In college, the emphasis of the holiday, aside from the drinking, was that Mestizo and Zapotec Indians could be victorious even when outnumbered, and we were reminded that the celebration had more significance socially for us in the United States than in Mexico because of our marginal status vis-à-vis the traditional white power structure.
Fast forward a few years, and I’m working in a non-profit in the Los Angeles area where my goal was to increase substance abuse awareness among Latinas. There I learn the extent that the liquor companies have appropriated the holiday to push more product. I became involved with Cinco de Mayo con Orgullo, whose goal was to get retailers to not use the holiday to sell more liquor. We weren’t asking that the drinking stop entirely on the holiday, but instead, we hoped that liquor stores, grocery stores, and bars would act more responsibly and not use the holiday to encourage our young people to drink more. We also worked to limit the proximity of beer gardens next to children’s playgrounds at Cinco de Mayo events geared for families, and we worked to limit liquor advertising next to schools and playgrounds. Ever notice all the tequila and beer ads in the barrio?
This year I seemed to notice the liquor advertising more even though the holiday fell on a Monday. For the past few weeks, every time I entered a grocery store, I saw 5 de Mayo ads next to the liquor and junk food section. Every time I flipped on the radio, I heard about some 5 de Mayo promotion at a bar or night club. And much to my dismay, when I opened the LA Times last week, Gustavo Arellano of Ask a Mexican Fame was being questioned about the holiday and offered this, “On Cinco de Mayo, everyone’s an honorary Mexican. It gives you a pass to get as drunk as possible, and I think that’s something all races can agree on.” I realize that there is a certain satire and humor to Arellano’s column, but I’m discouraged that one of our voices in the Latino community would just flat out endorse the drinking in association with the holiday. Maybe I’m being the party pooper or Debbie Downer here, but do we really need another reason to party? Every weekend I see the gente indulging in party preparation whether it is a small child’s birthday party complete with huge inflatable jumpers or young men and women dressing up to hit the clubs. I can only hope that some in our community can devote a fraction of their party time to civic engagement and political activity, but I’m not holding my breath.
If you want another perspective on Cinco de Mayo and the liquor industry pertaining to this year’s celebrations, I encourage you to read ProfBWoman’s commentary at WoC, PhD. She and I have discussed the disturbing trends, and I’m thankful that she is giving this important issue some careful analysis on her own blog.
7 responses so far ↓
1 BettyM // May 7, 2008 at 11:02 am
It is very sad that most people think that a celebration is not complete unless you get drunk. Mr. Arellano says the holiday “gives you a pass to get as drunk as possible” – I find this very disturbing and it is not funny. I believe there are greater densities of liquor stores in minority neighborhoods because they are quite profitable. Too bad, there should be more schools and parks in minority neighborhoods.
2 PMG! // May 7, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Having met Gustavo, I find he considers himself to be a satirist. And with a satirist, the trick is to to know when he is lying and when he is telling the truth (often found inbetween the lines) In fact, that is the reason for his whole column…
Now, whether or not he succeeds is a whole other argument…
3 Paul // May 7, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Gustavo can be very funny – too often he has decided to be a comedian rather than an interpreter of the Latino world for Anglos. Some of his work is quite good – this piece has some good lines if he was doing stand-up comedy – but this wasn’t the time of or place for that.
Our community, regrettably, still has not found a voice. Gustavo isn’t up for that.
4 lo // May 8, 2008 at 7:32 pm
the funny thing is that mexico is such a large and regionally diverse republic that the stereotypes prevalent in the u.s. really apply to no one in mexico…it just shows that the majority of the u.s. lacks any savoir of global cultures.
5 Michaelr // May 12, 2008 at 3:54 pm
BettyM makes an excellent point regarding Gustavo Arellano’s irresponsible written comments rationalizing various levels of intoxication for celebration. However, one reading of his “Ask a Mexican,” glossary is enough to wonder whether he could physically stand up to the written offensives he dishes out. As a community, we are sorely in need of role models and political leaders. Gloria Molina and Gloria Romero aren’t going to be around forever, and politicians like Fabian Nunez have only embraced the ugly stereotypical self-serving Latino political character.
6 ListenToLeon // May 13, 2008 at 8:56 am
I started typing a long comment, but I lost my connection
Here’s what I said:
The liquor companies have too much money on the line on Cinco de Mayo, so it’ll be quite a challenge getting the promotions to stop.
I am a fellow humor writer of color, so I can sort of empathize with Gustavo Arellano. Just being a minority with the public eye on you, means that you are going to get looked at as a voice of the people, whether you like it or not. Especially if you voice your opinion on a subject that matters to people. Comedy is a wonderful thing, but as you see, one misstep or poorly recieved joke can end up getting you called out and/or labeled.
Love the blog so far…Very interesting stuff
7 Drowning our Misery with Cerveza this 5 de Mayo // May 5, 2009 at 9:55 am
[...] club or bar, where people will be getting on their drinko for the cinco. Last year, I wrote a blog post about my experiences with this holiday as pertaining to some advocacy work I had been involved in [...]
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