El Cinco de Mayo: Steeped in the Battle Against Slavery

It’s perhaps one of America’s most misunderstood commemorative days, but El Cinco de Mayo should be one of its most widely celebrated.
Advertising campaigns would have us believe it’s about tacos, guacamole and beer, but in fact El Cinco de Mayo is steeped in a protracted struggle by conjoined Native, African and Spanish-speaking peoples in the Americas against European imperialism and the genocidal policies that accompanied it.
Dr. David E. Hayes-Bautista, author of “El Cinco de Mayo: An American Tradition,” explains the hidtorical significance of the commemorative day.
Hayes-Bautista is a professor of medicine and director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at the School of Medicine, UCLA.