Cinco De Mayo Research Paper

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Pages: 6

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday that celebrates Mexico’s victory over the French at Puebla on May 5, 1862 (Hayes-Bautista, p. 11). However, while Cinco de Mayo is primarily a Mexican holiday, it is scarcely celebrated in Mexico (Hayes-Bautista, p. 11). Conversely, it is widely celebrated not only in twenty-first-century California, but across the entire United States as a whole (Hayes-Bautista, p. 11). Ultimately, this is due to a lack of the public’s knowledge as to the historical background of the holiday; which has resulted in it becoming a showcase of Mexican ethnic identity vice a celebration of victory over the French (Greene, p. 2). Ultimately, this culturally significant event that originated in Mexico has spread to America by means of geographic diffusion (Figure 1). In order to examine this further, the following text will discuss the relevance of Cinco de Mayo within the concepts of geographic region, cultural diffusion, cultural landscape, …show more content…
11). At the same time, the inclusion of Mexico’s historical events into both public and private school curriculums increased awareness and celebration of this holiday (Carlson, p. 11). Moreover, the growth of Mexican-American populations (Figure 7) prompted local governments to sponsor Cinco de Mayo festivals (Carlson, p. 11). Media outlets, such as radio stations promote annual Cinco de Mayo celebrations in areas with large Mexican-American populaces while the growth of Spanish-language media sources has also largely attributed its diffusion (Carlson, p. 10). Furthermore, businesses utilize the holiday to promote economic interests through the sale of ethnic food items and by promoting parties and sweepstakes (Carlson, p. 12). As a result, this publicity has only served to contribute to the overarching national awareness and understanding of Cinco de Mayo (Carlson, p.