You probably saw a lot of celebrations around the theme of "Cinco de Mayo" in Dallas and elsewhere.  Count me in.  I love the day, because there is Mexican food all over town, as well as those little girls dancing in their traditional dresses.

This is what real diversity is – in other words, Americans celebrating their ethnic origins.   

So what's the big deal about Cinco de Mayo?  What do we have these parties?

Allan Wall has a good summary for those of us who are not Mexican or studied Mexican history in school:

Cinco de Mayo, literally “May the 5th,” is the holiday celebrating the Mexican victory over the French army on May the 5th, 1862, at Puebla, east of Mexico City.

In the U.S., especially in the Southwest, Cinco de Mayo has turned into a Mexican version of St. Patrick's Day in Boston, Columbus Day in New York, or Polish Day in Chicago.    

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican-American celebration.  Every year, our parades have gotten bigger and bigger. 

As Mr. Wall writes, Cinco de Mayo is a very good day for local retail merchants :

Cinco de Mayo is also a big beer-drinking day, with Mexican beer brands doing 5-10 percent of their U.S. sales for the occasion.

So pass the beer, the chips and those wonderful enchiladas.  I'll catch the Rangers in Toronto and tell my friends again that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico's July 4th!  Cinco de Mayo is just a fun day to eat Mexican food!

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