Why do Americans celebrate Cinco De Mayo?

r/

I never understood why a random battle when the French tried to invade Mexico is celebrated by Americans. Of course, Mexico gained independence from Spain in September, not May.

Comments

  1. kimmycorn1969 Avatar
  2. RainRepresentative11 Avatar

    It’s an excuse to get drunk

  3. MaeClementine Avatar

    I think it’s because we love margaritas.

  4. Jack_of_Spades Avatar

    Because we love any excuse to eat and drink an unwise amount.

  5. RedactedThreads Avatar

    Same reason we celebrate St. Patrick’s day – day drinking.

  6. Prudent_Cookie_114 Avatar

    Because we like margaritas and tacos.

  7. tsukiii Avatar

    Tacos and beer, essentially

  8. sureasyoureborn Avatar

    Sane reason we celebrate st Patrick’s day 🍻

  9. 44035 Avatar

    Because Mexico is our neighbor. We’re amigos, as they say. And we love a good holiday that gives us an excuse to eat Mexican food.

  10. 0hYou Avatar

    It’s been turned into Mexican St. Patrick’s Day by beer companies

  11. Electrical_Iron_1161 Avatar

    Honestly probably an excuse just to get drunk on a weekday when it doesn’t fall on a weekend

  12. Jedi4Hire Avatar

    People, not just Americans, are generally happy to have an excuse to drink and party.

  13. One-Possible1906 Avatar

    American and Mexican culture has a lot of overlap due to how many Mexican Americans there are and the fact that we’re neighbors. But mostly, tacos and margaritas.

  14. Echo017 Avatar

    Because we borrow all the fun holidays from sig ificsnt demographic blocks that move here, add silly dollar store accessories, get hammered and use it as an excuse to boost sales at themed restaurants

  15. Accomplished_Ad2599 Avatar

    Because fuck the French……..and Margaritas.

  16. kyrokip Avatar

    Tacos and tequila. It makes for a good day.

  17. jrhawk42 Avatar

    Because it has been celebrated by Mexican communities in California for decades.

  18. ElectricSnowBunny Avatar

    Same reason we celebrate St Patty’s Day and a host of others – immigration gives us more reasons to party.

    *That’s a good campaign slogan lol

    I wouldn’t celebrate it myself, but my neighbors are from Mexico and always invite me over for a great fucking time.

  19. Reduxalicious Avatar

    Well apart from the excuse to Party, In Texas, the Tejano communities use it as a way to celebrate their cultural heritage.

  20. osama_bin_guapin Avatar

    Because why not? It’s fun

  21. BurnerLibrary Avatar

    Most Americans like to party. Give them a theme and they’re off and running with it!

  22. stolenfires Avatar

    Cinco de Mayo is an American holiday. It was first celebrated in California, as a way to honor the Mexican-American shared heritage and an expression of unity during the Civil War.

  23. Efficient_Theory_826 Avatar

    Activists in California originally used it as a day to highlight Mexican-American contributions and then it became more wide spread via marketing campaigns from alcohol companies. Similar, trajectory as St. Patrick’s Day.

  24. jessek Avatar

    From what I remember Cinco de Mayo being a holiday that’s celebrated in the US came out of the Chicano Pride movement in the 70s. It was a celebration of Mexican American culture and over the years since Mexican food is delicious it became an excuse for everyone, Mexican descended or not to partake in tacos and margaritas.

    In recent years it’s gotten a reputation as St. Patrick’s Day-lite where a bunch of white people use it as an excuse to get drunk but it is still celebrated in the Mexican American community. Where I live there’s parades and parties.

  25. Odd-Help-4293 Avatar

    Americans like to celebrate ethnic holidays that involve food and alcohol. We can feel proud of our national diversity while getting drunk.

  26. MyFace_UrAss_LetsGo Avatar

    I mean, I’m not Catholic but I still celebrate Mardi Gras. We like to party I guess.

  27. ColtenInTheRye Avatar

    There’s no such thing as a bad reason to have a party. I hereby invite you and your countrymen to celebrate 4th of July, Juneteenth, Thanksgiving, and President’s Day.

  28. Rich-Contribution-84 Avatar

    Because it’s a popular Mexican holiday, Mexico is a close geographic neighbor, many Americans are of Mexican descent, and we have many Mexican nationals living in the United States.

    Cinco de Mayo is not a national holiday in the U.S. though. It’s more of a “fun” cultural holiday that lots of folks simply enjoy celebrating – sometimes for reasons as simple as enjoying tacos or margaritas. It’s not dissimilar from our (Americans broadly) wide celebration of St. Patrick’s Day despite Christianity’s arrival on Ireland’s shores not being a thing that Americans really care about.

  29. CandleSea4961 Avatar

    We are a nation of many cultures, backgrounds and traditions. Usually, celebrations are about ethnic pride, which is why we Irish Americans celebrate St Patricks Day harder than in Ireland. We like to party.

  30. Physical_Ad5135 Avatar

    Americans love a good taco and especially a good marg.

  31. bansheesho Avatar

    Tacos, margaritas, cervezas, celebration. What’s not to love? We do the same thing for St. Patrick’s Day, just swap it out for corned beef and cabbage, green beer, and Irish Whiskey.

  32. jondoughntyaknow Avatar

    Same reason some people around here celebrate Syttende Mai. Our heritage.

  33. Traditional_Entry183 Avatar

    I think that a large part of it is the fact that the US doesn’t have enough holidays that are designated simply for relaxing and having a good time. Most of the official ones are either religious, or government ones that over the years have been taken over by the conservative right wing to be used as military worship, especially in recent decades. There just aren’t enough where its considered totally ok, or even expected, for people to let their hair down and get drunk and have fun. Its my understanding that in many other countries, those kinds of days are a lot more common.

  34. ronshasta Avatar

    If you don’t live in America you don’t realize that Mexican Americans are a large part of our population and their culture is a large part of our countries culture. Also I’m pretty sure it’s an American holiday anyways

  35. WeegieBirb Avatar

    It’s just another chance to eat chips and drink beer. 🫠

  36. moccasins_hockey_fan Avatar

    Many Americans love an excuse to have fun.

  37. BreezyBill Avatar

    The same reason we “celebrate” St. Patrick’s Day. Except with arguably better food.

  38. Vixter4 Avatar

    Because Tacos and Margaritas are good as fuck. Americans love eating and drinking

  39. thehop73 Avatar

    Because tacos are involved.

  40. CirothUngol Avatar

    $1.00 margaritas.

  41. Subject_Stand_7901 Avatar

    Tacos, Corona, and Tequila.

    And a reason to yell “CINCOOOOOOO!!!!” (or so I’ve been told.)

  42. 1981drv2 Avatar

    We think Mexico is cool

  43. noideawhatoput2 Avatar

    Excuse to have tacos and margaritas on a Monday

  44. Ok-Use-8890 Avatar

    I think it just gives some of us a reason to drink and if we have Mexican friends even more of a reason to parrrttyyy lmao

  45. Dru65535 Avatar

    Same as St. Patrick’s Day. The cultural significance is very important to a lot of people. A lot of others use it as a reason to drink.

  46. CleverName4 Avatar

    Because Mexico and Mexicans are awesome. Fun culture; who doesn’t like tacos and margs?

  47. SpaceCrazyArtist Avatar

    Cause we likw tex-mex and margaritas

  48. chickenintendo Avatar

    A good excuse to have tacos is always celebrated

  49. bigedthebad Avatar

    Why not.

    Any excuse for a party.

  50. Remote_Clue_4272 Avatar

    Any reason to party is all that’s needed to steal or even make up cultural events. More St. Patrick’s here than Ireland.

  51. lovebot5000 Avatar

    We’re tryna drink beer and eat tacos man

  52. nigliazzo5626 Avatar

    Our people just like to party for any reason, especially with alcohol involved

  53. its_the_green_che Avatar

    People like to get drunk and eat tacos. If anything can be celebrated and used as an excuse to drink and eat.. it will be

  54. dratthecookies Avatar

    Americans celebrate everything. We are everyone and everywhere.

  55. kymrIII Avatar

    Tacos and margaritas. Enough said

  56. rexeditrex Avatar

    It’s a commercial excuse to drink.

  57. Uhhh_what555476384 Avatar

    The Battle of Puebla, if won by the French, could have had profound negative effects for the US Civil War. The French could have supplied the Confederacy via Mexico without challenging the Union blockade.

    In some ways it IS a bigger deal in US history then Mexican history and it’s appropriate for Americans to celebrate the Mexicans who died fighting there for Mexico and, indirectly, for the US.

  58. Padgetts-Profile Avatar

    I live in a predominantly Hispanic community, cinco de mayo is an integral part of everyone’s culture here. We have festivals, parades, and all sorts of celebrations. I appreciate it from a cultural standpoint but I also just enjoy an excuse to gorge myself on incredible food and beverages.

  59. Seawolfe665 Avatar

    Its a holiday that celebrates with delicious Mexican food and Margaritas. Why wouldn’t we?

  60. davsch76 Avatar

    Have you ever tasted guacamole? If you had, you wouldn’t be asking this question