This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Get out your sombreros and salt your margarita glasses! Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner! And as you sip, perhaps you should pause to ask yourself, “What are we actually celebrating?” If you said “Mexico’s independence. Claro!” you’d be wrong. Cinco de Mayo, literally the 5th of May, is actually the celebration of the Mexican army’s unlikely victory against the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. While still important in Mexico, and Puebla, Cinco de Mayo is celebrated far more enthusiastically in the U.S.. Its popularity surged in the 1980s when marketers, i.e., Corona, seized on the celebratory nature of the holiday. And by “celebratory,” they meant reason to drink. Even though there are those who do honor Mexican heritage and culture on this day, many simply use the occasion to throw Cinco de Drinko parties. Ole!

With thanks to Danika Swanson for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.