Cinco De Mayo: White People's Excuse To Let Loose

Hola, everybody! Happy Cinco De Mayo! Don't speak Spanish? Curious what all the fuss is about? Look no further because the answers to all your questions are right here.

Um, me no hablo español. What does "Cinco de Mayo" mean?

Cinco de Mayo is spanish for "the Cinco of Mayo." (Just kidding!) For reals this time: Cinco de Mayo means "the Fifth of May," and has nothing to do with actual mayo.

So, what's the big deal with the Fifth of May? What's there to celebrate?

Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day (nor is it a made-up American holiday). Cinco de Mayo celebrates the day that "4,000 Mexican soldiers smashed the French and traitor Mexican army of 8,000 at Puebla, Mexico, 100 miles east of Mexico City on the morning of May 5, 1862." You can also check out the Cinco de Mayo Wikipedia page for more Cinco de Mayo history.

You can also read what Representative Joe Baca has to say about the holiday in his post, Not Mexican Independence Day: Cinco de Mayo.

How does one celebrate Cinco De Mayo?

Well, the answer to that question depends on if you're over or under 21.

Under 21? Try some of these fun school-related Cinco de Mayo activities. You can also learn how to make a Cinco de Mayo pinata.

For the over-21 set, you can check out HuffPost contributors Jodi Lipper and Cerina Vincent's "Cinco de Mayo: 5 Suggestions For Celebrating Like You Mean It", including a great DIY-Guacamole recipe.

Mmmm...guacamole. Now I'm hungry. What other foods can one daydream about?

Try these great Cinco de Mayo food ideas, or check out some Cinco de Mayo recipes here.

Stop beating around the bush. What does one drink on Cinco de Mayo?

There is no shortage of Cinco de Mayo drink recipes. You can try Drink Mixer's official Cinco de Mayo drink, or try Yum Sugar's foolproof margarita and berry lemonade Cinco de Mayo drink recipes. Who doesn't like chocolate? Try this Mexican-style Hot Chocolate (served with or without alcohol)!
There's also every woman's personal favorite, thanks to none other than Bethenny of Real Housewives of New York fame, the Skinny Girl's Margarita:

What you'll need:

* 2 oz of clear Tequila (100% agave, Patron Silver)
* (count 1, 2 while you pour, no need for measuring)
* A splash of fresh lime juice
* A splash of Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Triple Sec

Combine all ingredients over a glass of ice
Garnish with a lime wedge and salt (or sugar) if you'd like.
Makes one serving

Now it's your turn to share Cinco de Mayo ideas. What are your favorite drink recipes? How do you plan on celebrating? Tell us in the comments below!

Comments

[CassieofTroy]

I live in Mexico City. Hate to break it to you -- Mexicans do not celebrate 5/5. Mexican Independence Day is September 16th. Everything was open yesterday. I got my car washed, carried out teller transactions at the bank, made a doctor's appointment, etc. Only the schools were closed, and that because the teachers' union will use any excuse to extort a day off with pay. The US Cinco the Mayo fad was created by one Maria Asunción Arambuzabala, chairwoman, CEO and majority shareholder of of Grupo Modelo (the people who brew Corona) and wife of the US ambassador to Mexico.

[chris615]

Hey guys stop some of this madness I'm Black. But come on biogotry and being bias of any kind isn't nice

[ResidentChimp]

I hope you're supporting Obama. You managed to insult two cultures at the same time. Maybe you can do Kwanza when it comes up.

[MajorKong]

Does it involve beer? If so, sign me up.

[BobSF94117]

Well, most of the rest of the world celebrates May Day. We CAN'T do that -- too "commie", you know. So that would leave us without a May holiday! Can't have that!!!

[HamletsMill]

Well, we celebrated Cinco de Mayo at work today in Pittsburgh. Everyone brought Mexican food and dressed as the Cisco Kid and Pancho this year. Koreans, Chinese, AA, and white people in our work place. We have Mexican friends and they liked that we celebrated with them. It was nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFLorjMhAbo

[toronto]

If Cinco de Mayo doesn't meet requirements for a celebration you can observe today as the day in which the people of Tennesse put John Scopes on trial for daring to teach evolution to his students. If George Bush been alive in 1925 the defense could have buttressed its case by using his image and behaviour to demonstrate the strong connection between chimp and man.

[punchmonkey]

"Always a good idea to give the cultureless whites a reason to let loose, other than nascar, baseball and an apple pie I would love to shove up their asses!!!!"

[caps]

this whole "isn't it funny that white people like stuff" meme is way past its welcome. why frame the holiday in terms of the people who, allegedly, celebrate it for the wrong reason? also, can the editor prevent the next attempted usage of "for reals"? it's not cute.

[rigveda]

I am totally sick of it, too - I am a progressive-leaning white man and want to feel welcome here at the HuffPo - but it seems my kind isn't wanted around these parts. I guess I am supposed to have a sense of humor about this and I do up to a point - but when the anti-white stuff gets oppressive (like it has been recently on here), my mood starts to sour.

I thought liberals were supposed to be sensitive to stuff like this?

[morbie5]

Don't you know that if you are a white progressive you are also suppose to have liberal white guilt? You are suppose to believe that only white people have enslaved and oppressed other people (never mind the turks, the arabs and the japaneses). You are to accept the fact that you are to be the butt of jokes. You are also suppose to take responsibility for all the problems of the 3rd world.

[hominidx]

Wow, look at everyone taking this post Very Seriously.

[wndrwrthg]

"An excuse to let loose"? Generally, that is called the weekend.

[YA]

White people's excuse to let loose?

Oh yeah, white people need an excuse to get loose. Forget 4th of July, Halloween, SuperBowl, St Patrick's day, New Year Eve, Spring break, etc, we need 5 de Mayo for an excuse to drink and party.

[Ariadne]

That's just so we have May covered. Or early May covered, I forgot about Memorial Day weekend.

[rwferr]

Patron should only be drunk straight. If you are going to mix it you might as well save your money on some rot gut.

[rwferr]

I went to the Bonefish Grill the other day and somebody knew I liked tequila and ordered me a Patron margarita. God what a waste of good tequila that was and it cost 8 bucks!

[situationcritical]

Doing anything straight is a hard sell in West Hollywood.

[rwferr]

I am about as far away from there as you can physically be and still be in the US!

[mpeachhead]

It was always big in Athens, GA, where I went to school. That night and Halloween were generally some of the biggest party (week) nights of the year, assuming that they fell on a week night.

It was also my birthday, which was cool.

[cathye]

Athens resident here ~ The party was in full swing at Dos Palmas where we ate, then as we drunk drove (and prayed) the .1 mile across the street to Barnes and Nobles and spent an hour sobering up, we passed the party over at On the Border. I suppose we should have walked rather than drove, but it was significantly safer to follow the traffic lights from one shopping center to the other than it would have been to attempt to walk across eight lanes of Atlanta Highway when all the OTHER people were out driving drunk.

We wouldn't have had to bother except La Fiesta burned down last December and hasn't reopened yet, so there's no good Mexican on the east side :( (Fortunately, Dos Palmas is owned by the same guys.)

$10 pitcher margaritas split between three people = too much to drive by many percentage points. Plan ahead! (Well, our more tolerant third dinner companion had a shot of mezcal then headed downtown for more party instead of joining us for an hour of giggle in the aisles of Barnes and Noble.)

Ah, typical Friday in Athens, only on a Monday! God I'm gonna miss this town . . .

[Kundera]

yeah, ever hear of St. Patrick's Day or New Year's Eve???????????? Every time you see white on this site, change it to black or gay and you'll see the bigotry flying.

[Blutus]

Lived in the southwest for over 40 years.

Never celebrated Cinco de Mayo.

Don't know any white people who ever did either.

Many Mexicans, however, still think it has something to do with their independence.

This is a thoroughly bogus article.

[jaycg9]

Cinco de Mayo is for non-Mexican people to get in touch with their inner Mexican, in the same way that St. Patrick's Day is for people to celebrate being Irish (even if they have not a drop of Irish blood). It'd be far more efficient if instead of celebrating holidays that have nothing to do with them people in America just set aside a few days per year to be unproductive at work and get drunker than normal. But if that were to happen, the veneer of culture and history would be lost, and at least a few people chugging Patron today actually give a damn about the reasons for this holiday (as are a few people, knee deep in Guinness on St. Paddy's Day, who actually care about who the Saint was and why he gets a holiday).