JE#2

I can plainly see how Cinco de Mayo has become the perfect example of historical amnesia. Every year since I have attended UCLA, I constantly see Facebook posts from my peers that range from 'Cinco de drinko, let's get crazy,' and many others that have appropriated a national event that was entirely a part of Mexico's national history, into a day of drinking and faux celebration. The original context of Cinco de Mayo, which was originally known as 'El Día de la Batalla de Puebla,' was a Mexican military victory from a French invasion. I believe Cinco de Mayo is one of many examples, where historical amnesia allows many to accept the status quo blindly and forget what really happened in history when it is always written by the conqueror. After reading De Leon's Greaser book, I was not surprised with the amount of themes regarding ethnocentrism, white supremacy, racism, prejudices, and stereotypes that were constructed with the Greaser Mexicans and Tejanos in the novel. To me, the social injustices that occur today are directly related to events that happened in the past in a 'history is doomed to repeat itself' sort of way. During my elementary, middle, and high school institutionalization we covered very little about the US-Mexico War, blindly accepting Manifest Destiny and other US acts of aggression as events of national pride and hardship overcoming the evils of other countries.

On scale of 1-10, my historical amnesia would be at about an 8. I said before that I grew up in a predominantly white-privileged, latino/hispanic majority community, so there were very little Asian Americans living in my neighborhoods. My parents 'wanted' me to hang out with the white kids and strayed away from letting me hang out with more African Americans and sometimes Central/South American kids. I don't blame or hold in grudges because they themselves were immigrants just wanting a better life for their children. I can still speak my native tongue and first-learned language, which is Mandarin, although I feel a little regret from never taking the time to become literate in that language. The reason why I chose 8 was my disposition and gratifying feel that although english was never my first learned language, I was always grateful that I never spoke with a 'fobby' accent.