Today is Cinco de Mayo, a huge celebratory tradition in Mexico and also celebrated in the United States. Both my parents are Mexican, my father from Mexico and my mother from the United States. As a child, my parents never really talked to us about our heritage, nor did we celebrate Cinco de Mayo that I can remember. I don’t believe they were ashamed of who they were by any means, in fact just the opposite. I can remember them teaching me to believe in who I am, to stand up for myself in any given situation and don’t let anyone tell me that because I am Hispanic my value as a human being is less than anyone else.
I still remember up until around age four or five my parents speaking to us almost exclusively in Spanish at home, but out in public or in school we spoke English. For whatever reason, that I cannot remember, we eventually made English our primary language. Unfortunately, now as an adult I very seldom speak Spanish, and when I try to, I sound like a foreigner speaking the language of a foreign country. My friends always tease me that I do not make a very good Mexican. And I am not a big fan of spicy hot foods ha-ha.
Some people would say that I have become to Americanized, well I am an American, and yet others would say I am too Mexican, but I was born to Mexican parents. Maybe too much emphasis is put on what our ethnicity is and not enough on who we are as a person. Our qualities, values, and beliefs are much more important to me than where we came from. Every country, nationality, and ethnicity has much to offer in this big vast world of ours. Let us embrace the beauty in that and see one another as a person first and foremost.
Today as Mexico celebrates the victory over the French forces at the Battle of Puebla, let us also celebrate our families and our heritage wherever we come from and be proud of who we are. I hope you have a wonderful day full of many celebrations. Until next time… God Bless you.
justantherday 