| | |  Editorials | Issues | May 2009 
US Latinos Irked by Mexican Dominance
 Manuel Valdes - Associated Press
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Seattle - With mariachis, tequila and parades, Cinco de Mayo will be celebrated this week in parties across the nation, kicking off a commemoration of Mexican heritage in the United States as a pseudo-holiday that has been adopted by the general population.
But for Dagoberto Reyes, a Salvadorian immigrant living in Los Angeles, May 5 is more a reminder of the dominance Mexican culture has in a country that is home to immigrants from many Latin American countries. His prime example: Los Angeles-area public schools.
"Our kids go to this school system, and the school system is more preoccupied with Mexico's history, and not the rest of Latin America's, much less El Salvador's," said Reyes, director of Casa de la Cultura, a Salvadorian community center. "They came back celebrating Cinco de Mayo. That holiday means nothing to us."
It's a popular misconception that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day. The date actually celebrates the 1862 Battle of Puebla, in which Mexican forces stopped an invading French army. It's a date barely celebrated in Mexico and not in any other Latin American country.
Mexican-born immigrants make up the largest group of foreign-born Latin Americans at almost 11 million, a number that nears the total of immigrants from all other Latin American countries, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. As a result, Mexican culture has been the dominant Latino force in the United States, often leaving other Latinos to adapt or resent.
After Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean are the two regions that have sent the most Latin American immigrants.
The history of Mexican migration to the United States is longer than any other Latin American country, dating back many decades - not to mention the states that once belonged to Mexico: Texas, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.
There are Mexican-American families who can trace their roots many generations back to ancestors who lived in those regions before they became part of the United States.
Most Central American immigrants came after the 1980s. |
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