Cinco de Mayo : Scholars Say Ethnic Pride, Commercialization Are Catalysts in Revival of Mexican Celebration

Two decades ago, Cinco de Mayo was a very small, and apparently dying, celebration in Orange County. A 1968 Times headline summed it up: “County’s Interest in Cinco de Mayo Fades.”

But this year, the Mexican holiday is a major event, with activities scheduled all over the county today and throughout the weekend.

About 50,000 people are expected to flock to Centennial Park in Santa Ana during the next three days for the Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Mexican-Americans in Santa Ana have been preparing for months for the holiday. University and community colleges plan extended celebrations. Newspaper advertisements, ranging from those of grocery stores to posh restaurants, have proudly proclaimed “Cinco de Mayo specials.”

“Orange County has changed,” said Rodolfo Montejano, a trustee of Rancho Santiago Community College District and president of the Santiago Club, a large organization in the county devoted to furthering Hispanic culture. “Cinco de Mayo has been accepted by the overall community, just like St. Patrick’s Day and Columbus Day,” Montejano added.

Other scholarly observers, in recent interviews, agreed with Montejano. They said that Cinco de Mayo no longer is a “closet holiday” in a predominantly Anglo county. The academics said that Cinco de Mayo now is not viewed as a “little-known Mexican holiday” but is, instead, widely accepted as an American melting-pot celebration.

The scholars said Orange County’s acceptance, and indeed fervent embrace, of a holiday dear to Mexican-Americans bodes well for Vietnamese-Americans, who are among the latest newcomers to the county.

Montejano, who is a lawyer, noted that a councilman in Westminster earlier this year triggered a controversy when he lectured Vietnamese-Americans about why he opposed providing the municipal help they requested for a celebration. Councilman Frank Fry Jr. said, “If you want to be South Vietnamese, go back to South Vietnam.” Fry has since apologized, but the remark caused

bitterness among Westminster’s large Vietnamese community. The proposed parade to honor South Vietnamese who died in the Vietnam War was dropped.

But Montejano said he feels certain that most Orange County residents, in a relatively short time, will welcome a Vietnamese parade or celebration, just as the county now accepts Cinco de Mayo.

“In just 5 more years, I predict that the Vietnamese will be having a very big, very colorful celebration in Orange County that will be as well accepted as Chinese New Year,” Montejano said.

Orange County’s shift from almost ignoring Cinco de Mayo to celebrating it reflects a variety of societal and historical changes, according to Latino scholars in the county.

Americo Lopez-Rodriguez, who teaches Chicano culture at Golden West College in Huntington Beach, said, “There is more acceptance (in Orange County) now of the celebrations of other ethnic groups because this has become more of a multicultural society.”

Some of the change is due to the rising aspirations of Mexican-Americans in Orange County, according to Jaime Rodriguez, a professor of history at UC Irvine.

“You look at the historical event, and it tells you something,” said Rodriguez. “Cinco de Mayo marks the victory by Mexicans against the French on May 5, 1862 at Puebla. At that time, the French had the most powerful military force in the world. The Mexican victory became very symbolic to the Mexican people--symbolic of what was possible for the country.

“I think many Chicanos now see Cinco de Mayo as symbolic in another way. For a long time the Mexican-Americans in this country did not have much hope for success or political power, but now they feel differently. So now they see Cinco de Mayo as a celebration that says: ‘You can do it. You can stand up. You can succeed.’ ”

Gilbert Gonzales, a professor of comparative culture at UC Irvine, said another factor in the emergence of a stronger Cinco de Mayo in Orange County has to do with generational changes.

“In the post World War II era, many of the younger Mexican-Americans became more immersed in social and political issues in this country, rather than taking an interest in the things of the old country, as did their parents,” Gonzales said. He said the result was less interest in a holiday perceived to be strictly Mexican.

Gonzales said he believes that younger generations of Mexican-Americans again became interested in Cinco de Mayo during the 1960s. He noted that the ‘60s marked many social changes, including an embrace by many young people of ethnic pride.

“I think the celebration today has a lot to do with a statement of ethnic pride and ethnic power,” Gonzales said.

The symbolism of Cinco de Mayo is a reason for its big resurgence among young Mexican-Americans, said Isaac Cardenas, chairman of the Chicano studies department at Cal State Fullerton.

“The victory at Puebla in 1862 told the Mexican people that they could seek freedom,” Cardenas said. “The Mexican people at that time were seeking democratic ideals, and it’s that kind of spirit that is also revered in the United States. The holiday is one that both countries can celebrate, with a pride of heritage in the concept of democracy.”

But Cardenas, like Montejano, also said that the changes in Orange County itself account for much of the resurgence of interest in Cinco de Mayo.

“Orange County has changed dramatically in the past 20 years,” Cardenas said. “When I came to Fullerton in 1974, the Santa Ana school district had a 33% Latino enrollment. Today that Latino enrollment in the Santa Ana school district is a little over 80%.”

Non-Latino interest in Cinco de Mayo has been enhanced by educational programs in public schools throughout the county, as well as by strong support from the business community, Cardenas said.

Montejano, with laughter, said: “Hey, it’s becoming very commercial now, and that shows we’ve really made it. When a holiday, such as Christmas, starts being heavily commercialized, you know it’s very accepted.”

The change of Orange County from being overwhelmingly white and politically archconservative also enhanced the status of Cinco de Mayo, according to Montejano. “The overall community no longer looks on Cinco de Mayo as a ‘Mexican celebration’ but as something that is a bigger part of the American way of life,” Montejano said.

Sal Trevino, manager for the big Cinco de Mayo celebration at Centennial Park in Santa Ana, said, “Cinco de Mayo has now become very established and very successful. It’s a day that you order margaritas and celebrate, no matter who you are. It’s very much like St. Patrick’s Day in that you don’t have to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day. Because you don’t have to be Mexican to enjoy Cinco de Mayo.”