Today is Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for the 5th of May), a day to celebrate Mexican heritage. For this occasion, ultra-conservative FosterDad agreed to write a guest post. As you’re reading this, remember that we live in Texas, and the controversy of illegal immigration is very heated here. Given this, these opinions are FosterDad’s and may or may not reflect my views. {wink! wink!}
We are living in a day when I think people are getting a little confused in the difference between Ethnic Pride and what I call Ethnic Patriotism. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for Ethnic Pride. I am very proud of both my German and Irish roots. On St. Patrick’s Day, I swell with a little Irish pride, and think of my Irish ancestors who moved to the United States during the Potato Famine in the 1850’s. When I see German celebrations like the Wurstfest in New Braunfels, Texas, I think of my German ancestors that moved from Germany to Texas in the early 1900’s.
I believe Ethnic Pride is great! I think we all need to know and appreciate who we are and where we came from.
But over the past several years, I have begun to see people not just celebrate their Ethnic heritage, but to demand that their ethnic heritage be a part of not only their lives, but a part of everyone’s life. It seems that we are no longer just “Americans,” but we are fractured into different groups. You are either an African American, White American, Hispanic American, Asian American, Jewish American and so on.
The little boy that we are in the process of adopting was born in Mexico. I want him to be proud of his Mexican heritage. I will gladly take him to be a part of celebrations that praise the contributions made by the Mexican culture. On “Cinco de Mayo” I want him to remember Mexico’s victory over the French in the French occupied territory of Mexico. In September, he should be proud to remember the struggle Mexico went through to win their independence from Spain. I will gladly teach him how Texas was once a part of Mexico, and that all Texans were at one time “Mexicans.”
But as important as that is, I will want him to know how lucky he is to be living in this great nation. I want him to know that being a citizen of the United States is not just an honor,but a blessing. Yes, I want him to swell with pride when he thinks about his Mexican heritage, but more importantly, I want to to swell with Patriotism when he thinks about the fact that he is an American!
