March 15, 2006
By Francisco Zermeo
Many things out there simply are not 100 percent correct. There are exceptions to most concepts. Let's go over some.
Misconception: El Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day. Most definitely not. Those who have studied history of the Americas know that Mexico's independence is celebrated at midnight Sept. 15, when the priest Hidalgo declared it from the hated gachupines (Spaniards). It is also the day we celebrate the birth of most of our Central American republics.
Related to this is the belief that El Cinco is simply our excuse to drink beer and get drunk in public. While social drinking is the accepted norm in any culture, not all Mexicans and Latinos indulge in this particular wrong aspect of El Cinco. Even in Hayward there is a small alcohol-free celebration.
Misconception: All Latinos are Democrats. Well, no. Of the three Zermeo brothers, the middle one is a hard Republican, and he was born in Mexico, like me. My youngest brother and I really gang up on him whenever we are together. And remember Arnold's victory over our last Democratic governor. About 30 percent of Latinos voted for him!
Misconception: All Latino men are machos. Nothing can be further from the truth. We do have henpecked men, even in Mexico, land of machismo. I have an uncle who once asked permission from my aunt to go to the bathroom, in the middle of our conversation (!), as we were chatting away during our visit to their house in Mexico. Can you believe that? I couldn't.
Misconception: Tequila has a worm. Ha! Actually its poorer, harsher yet earthier cousin, the mezcal (another of the large century plant family), has that fine distinction. In mezcal social drinking, the bottle is passed around, with every guest taking a drink. The last drink, the one with the worm, will give thatdrinker good luck. By the way, the worm is not a worm worm. It comes from the mezcal plant, and it has this unusual "lucky" taste.
Misconception: All Latinos are Mexican. This one gets our brothers from Central and South America quite riled up. The actual number is around
66 percent of all Latinos in the United States, and Hayward, too, for that matter. Related to this, and also quite insulting to white-complexioned Latinos, is the belief that all Latinos are brown. The many joys of brownhood are not enjoyed by all Latinos, and I can personally attest to this.
Then, among us Mexicans, our compatriots from Michoacan and Oaxaca are browner, shorter and less educated. Boy, is that far from the truth, and if stated out loud in Hayward, it really can begin a discussion.
Misconception: All Latinos are short. Well, maybe 90 percent of us are, but there are exceptions. There is Eduardo Najera of the NBA. Then there is me, at 6 feet 4 inches.
Misconception: All Mexicans drink tequila. No. In general yes, but not all of them. There is even a large group who prefer brandy. Not all Peruvians drink Inca Cola or pisco. Nor do all Costa Ricans drink guaro, nor Argentines mate. Nor Spaniards sangria, nor Portuguese port.
Dad comes to mind. He was a real Mexican, 95 percent macho. Not 100 percent? Well, he neither drank tequila nor beer, of course (he was a Coca-Colaholic). I tried his typical breakfast once, and while it was tasty to a degree, I could not bring myself to repeat it. He used to pour himself a glass of Coca-Cola, add three raw eggs to it and drink it up. See what I mean?
A reader of last week's column pointed out that many traits I mentioned are not just Latino, but rather universal motherhood. He is right. Another one wants me to differentiate between Latina mothers born in the United States and those born and raised in Latin America, or just Mexico. Well, all I have to say is, nothing is negative about traditions. Even in Mexico there are mothers who may not be as traditional as mine, or many others.
I do know Latina mothers, born and raised here in the States and in Hayward, who have employed these traditional mothering methods. Yes, not all of them employ el cucuy.
What is exceptional is that most women — whether breaking their back for 36 years in a Mexican restaurant kitchen and the hot fields of Salinas (like my mama), or from rural or urban Latin America, or UC Berkeley-educated and suburban — are all heroes to their children, because they help us succeed.
Only 10 percent of Latinas in this country receive a post-education degree. This is quite sad and needs our attention. Of my most immediate family, with about 50 members, only one woman, my wife, has a university degree, and two — our daughters — are working on it.
In finishing today's talk on Latino misconceptions, here are a couple of good ones: Latinos can be found taking a siesta under a sombrero and sarape against a saguaro. Heck, even that large mural at the entrance to Hayward's Centennial Hall has one in it.
Well, if that were true, Mexico would not be the world's
12th-largest economic power, nor would California be the sixth.
And all Latinos are Spanish- speakers. As a professor of Spanish, I would love it if all the people of the world, not just Latinos, spoke Spanish. I am working on it, at a clip of 300 students a year.
This reminds me of eating. Do all Latinos eat Mexican food? No, but of one of my compadres insists that the only food worth eating is Mexican, and eats nothing but. Whoa! I ask you — is he a real typical Mexican?
Source: InsideBayArea.com
Just one correction. Actually the Mexican Independence Day is Septermber 16th, we celebrate the culmination of the battle and our freedom redeem. September 15th Midnight is when the Priest (Cura) Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, congregate the people, by chiming the church bells (a code that it's still in practice in Latin American towns as a signal to reunite the people when an emergency) and he asked the people to raise in arms against the Spanish Colony.
Posted by: German Chavez | March 23, 2006 at 02:08 PM