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A Celebration of Hispanic Culture
Fliday, May 4, 1990
Battalion Special Section
Section B, 4 pages
holiday celebrates Hispanic culture
istoric battle gives
ocus to national pride
'NM
lT£ D By SUZANNE CALDERON
Of The Battalion Staff
■ Folklorico dancers will spin and
^jjrirl their vibrant sequined skirts to
Hariachi music across cities in the
^ Mnited States and Mexico on May 5
13 the Mexican holiday Cinco de
HHayo is celebrated.
H Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of
■exican heritage, commernovating
TUlt May 5, 18b2. battle in Puebla,
. 4t
mg ■ hroughout much of
^the 19th century, there
Sere a lot of imperialistic
at nudes toward Mexico ..
,,so a victory over the
foreign invader, as with
N Qinco de Mayo was quite
k meaningful,”
1
—Henry Schmidt,
associate professor
of history
i fun:
bunitl
Mexico, where a Mexican army, un-
|ler the direction of General Zara-
roza defeated an invading French
imy.
1 Militarily, the battle was not that
iftiportant, said Dr. Henry Schmidt,
• Hsociate professor of history and ex-
■on m r[ on Mexican history.
““"■The importance of the Cinco de
ur ” ; May° bailie is that it was a victory
numr over a foreign invader, he said.
■ Schmidt explained that Mexico
was in a weakened positon in the
19th century, and even after gaining
its independence in 1821, Mexico
continued to be invaded by foreign
powers.
“Throughout much of the 19th
century, there were a lot of imperial
istic attitudes toward Mexico and
some military movements, so a vic
tory over the foreign invader, as
with Cinco de Mayo, was quite mean
ingful,” Schmidt said.
The victory over the French was
important psychologically because it
helped the growth of Mexican na
tionalism, he said. It was important
for the Mexican people to feel uni
fied against foreign powers in order
to form a national identity, Schmidt
said.
“This really is what Cinco de
Mayo is all about,” he said. “The ac
tual victory in 1862 is not so much
what it was about, but it’s in the
growth of Mexican nationalism and
bow this -was one moment in which
Mexico stood strong to the foreign
er.”
Cinco de Mayo has become a cele
bration of “mexicanness” or mexica-
nidad and is a way the Mexicans
have created national pride and
identity, he said.
“It’s when Mexican-Americans
celebrate the Mexican part of their
heritage,” he said.
Cinco de Mayo is one of the major
celebrations of the calendar year in
Mexico anc^ is also celebrated in the
United States.
Schmidt said Cinco de Mayo is cel
ebrated in various degrees of inten
sity in different areas of Mexico and
the United States.
egent sees mission
as student advocate
By MIKE AVILA
Special to the Battalion
When Raul B. Fernandez was
appointed to the Texas A&M
Board of Regents last year, no
one was more surprised than he
was.
“When you think about it, I’ve
been preparing for this job all my
life,” Fernandez said. “Coming
into the job was easy. I was famil
iar with the administrators and
had contacts in the Association of
Former Students.”
Fernandez, of San Antonio, is a
builder and real estate investor.
He graduated from Texas A&M
with a civil engineering degree in
11959. He began his construction
career working for H.B. Zachry.
Fernandez served as president
of the Association of Former Stu
dents in 1980, and now is a mem
ber of the Corps of Cadets Devel
opment Council.
As a regent, Fernandez views
himself as a policymaker, with an
emphasis on student advocacy.
“I found there was an inaccu
rate perception of regents. Peo
ple thought they were untouch
able, and that’s not correct,”
Fernandez said. “Without stu
dents, we wouldn’t need ex
panded programs, correct facili
ties or compensated faculty,”
During his first year as a re
gent, Fernandez has served on
the Executive Committee, the
Planning and Building Commit
tee and the Audit Committee. He
also will chair the Name Selection
Committee.
Photo by Penny DeLosSantos
Celebrating Cinco de Mayo at the Commons, Carolina Sarabia, junior political science major,
strikes the pihata in hopes of reaching the goodies on April 27. The celebration was sponsored
by the Department of Student Affairs and various committees.
“Something-tike this is celebrated
in different ways in Chicago, Hous
ton, San Diego or even throughout
Mexico,” he said.
The tradition of Cinco de Mayo is
stronger or more developed in some
areas than others, he said. How each
community chooses to celebrate the
holiday depends on their particular
customs, Schmidt said.
“Each community has a different
approach to celebrating Cinco de
Mayo, but they generally feature va
rious aspects of traditional Mexican
culture, like mariachi music, a pa
rade, a charro exhibition and a gran
bade (grand dance),” he said.
Texas A&M's Cinco de Mayo cele
bration, “A- Taste of Cinco de
Mayo,” on April 27 at Sbisa and
Commons Dining Hall featured a
traditional Mexican menu, speakers
on Cinco de Mayo as well as tradi
tional entertainment.
Un Feriado
del Orgullo
Translated by
CHRISTINA DE LEON
Special to The Battalion
En todos los Estados Unidos y
Mexico, los bailerines folkldricos
danzar&n al compels de la musica
mariachi en celebracidn del feriado,
el Cinco de Mayo.
Cinco de Mayo es una celebracion
de la cultura mexicana que conme-
mora la batalla librada en Puebla,
Mexico el 5 de mayo de 1862, el dia
en que el ejercito del General Zara
goza lograra veneer una invasibn
Francesa.
Militarmente, la batalla no fue tan
significante, dijo Dr. Henry
Schmidt, profesor asociado de histo-
ria y un expert o de la historia mexi
cana.
La importancia de la batalla del
Cinco de Mayo es que fue una victo
ria ante un invasor extranjero, dijo
Schmidt.
Schmidt explico que en el siglo 19,
Mexico se hallaba debil politica-
mente y aun despues de haber lo-
grado su independencia en 1821, to-
davla continuaba siendo invadida
por potencias extranjeras.
“Por el siglo 19, muchas actitudes
imperialistas se veian en contra de
Mexico y entonces la victoria del
Cinco de Mayo fue tan significante,”
Schmidt dijo.
La victoria sobre los franceses fue
psicologicamente importante porque
contribuyd al crecirniento del naci-
nalismo mexicano, dijo.el profesor.
Era importante para los mexicanos
sentirse unificados ante potencias
extranjeros, y as! formar una identi-
See Celebracion/Page 4B
English-only runs into setbacks;
court, citizens oppose legislation
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Of The Battalion Staff
After succeeding in wooing high visibility
fundraisers and persuading voters in 17 states to
adopt an “official” language in a matter of a few
years, the English-only movement has begun to
run into its first setbacks.
The English only movement’s most telling set
back was when a federal district court in Arizona
recently ruled that the Arizona amendment was
unconstitutional. The court ruled it was “over
broad” and in violation of the Constitution’s free-
speech guarantees.
But the founder of U.S. English, an English-
only organization founded in the early 1980s,
didn’t help the movement’s image when a memo
leaked out saying Whites were losing their power
to the “more fertile” Hispanics.
Before the legal setback in Arizona, the En
glish-only movement was at a peak of success.
Thousands joined either the U.S. English or En
glish First organizations, including Walter Cron-
kite and Gore Vidal, who lent their names to the
organizations.
The two major English-only organizations
helped pass laws in 17 states, naming English as
the “official” language, including California, Col
orado, and Arizona. Although Texas and New
Mexico have resisted English-only legislation, 20
other states are currently legislating it.
The Arizona constitutional amendment was
declared unconstitutional by the federal court
because it was too restrictive. Arizona’s law,
which almost completely prohibited foreign lan
guages from being used in government business,
was the most restrictive of all the nation’s laws.
Most of the other states’ laws are much more
simple. For example, Indiana’s law states, “The
English language is adopted as the official lan
guage of the state of Indiana.”
The Arizona law was brought to court by a bil
ingual state insurance claims manager, who
claimed that speaking Spanish to clients would be
illegal under the law.
Texas A&-M entered the English-only versus
bilingualism fray recently when the Committee
for the Awareness of Mexican American Culture
held a debate.
Dr Herman Garcia, an associate professor of
bilingual education at A&M and one of the de
baters, said Flispanics will continue to resist the
movement toward an official language.
“Yes, we want English to be strong in the
minds and tongues of our children,” Garcia said.
“But not at the expense of being ashamed of who
they are, which is what English-only does.”
Garcia called the English-only movement “na-
tivist, restnetivist, exclusionary, and racist.”
Louis Zaeske, Class of ’64 and a strong advo
cate for English as the official language, said the
government should conduct its affairs solely
through English because it unites the people.
“It is the duty of the government created by
the people to promote those things that unite
See English/Page 4B
Curanderos heal with herbs, belief
A&M anthropologist explains Mexicanfolklore, folk medicine
By ANGELA TREVINO
Special to the Battalion
Take a pinch of European
folklore, spice it up with America-
Indian tales, stir in aspects of Roman
Catholicism and what happens? You
get a special blend of ethnic lore and
customs that flavor Mexican folklore
and folk beliefs.
Curandismo, a popular belief of
folk healers, is based on elements of
these cultures. Dr. Tom Green, asso
ciate professor of anthropology,
said.
Curanderos, or folk healers, base
their theories about disease causes
and cures heavily in Roman Catholi
cism, Green said. Some curanderos
are also appealed to as folk saints,
Green said.
The curanderos heal common
Mexican folk illnesses. Green said.
“Ailments often described by pa
tients are mal qjo, or evil eye, and
susto, fright sickness,” he said
Mal ojo supposedly occurs when
an object that has been admired goes
untouched, Green said.
It is customary to touch any object
of admiration, such as a cute baby.
he said.
If someone suspects he or she is
affected by mal ojo, Green said their
best bet is to consult a curandero.
The curandero will wash the pa
tient with herbs, make the sign of a
cross over the patient with a raw egg,
crack it, and leave it under the pa
tient’s bed, he said. The egg should
become cooked overnight and take
But folk remedies can be helpful,
especially if people believe they’re
going to help them, he said.
In addition to reciting holy words
and actions, Green said, folk reme
dies include herbal cures, which
must be prepared according to the
curandero’s directions.
He said some herbal cures include
teas, such as spearmint (hierba-
u
Just because we call a cure folk, it doesn’t
necessarily mean that it’s baloney.”
—Tom Green,
associate professor
of anthropology
the shape of whatever intluence was
in the patient.
The patient awakens feeling bet
ter, Green said, which can be attrib
uted to either the power of the cu
randero or the power of suggestion.
“Just because we call a cure folk, it
doesn't necessarily mean that it’s ba
loney,” he said.
Folk cures are generally based on
different assumptions than those of
academic medicine. Green said.
buena), and saffron (asafran), w’hich
is used to relieve fevers.
“Not all (cures) are necessarily
magical or religious in nature,”
Green said. “Some of it is faith heal
ing or magical, some of it is strictly
herbal or botanical, and some of it is
a combination of the two elements.”
Another aspect of Mexican
folklore and culture is the abun
dance of folk narratives told as true
stories.
Told time and time again, the sto
ries contain specific themes, but are
localized according to the storyteller,
Green said.
The Devil in the Dancehall is a
common tale in Mexican folklore, he
said. The story begins at a local
dance hall, when a handsome
stranger chooses a girl and charms
her into dancing with him. She has a
great time until she looks down at his
Feet, screams “/Sus pies, sus pies!"
and faints.
The stranger disappears inside
the restroom, leaving a strong smell
of sulphur. After noticing the man’s
chicken feet (or goat’s hooves), the
girl realized she was dancing with
the devil.
Green said this story may symbol
ize the conflict between a youthful
longing for freedom and the obedi
ence sought by parents.
He said a similar tale is found in
other cultures, such as the Native
American contemporary tale of
Deer Woman in which the sex roles
are reversed and a young man is
lured away from others by Deer
Woman. He is later found trampled
See Folklore/Page 4B