Ohio woman from Mexico reflects on Cinco de Mayo in the U.S.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Izkalotzin González has a passion for career development. She recently became a content creator for LinkedIn, where she provides talent acquisition tips in Spanish.

“I raise my voice. I try to share like what is the reality of talent acquisition recruiters, how people can find that job and help as much as they can from that side,” González said.

Advocating for the Mexican community is another responsibility that González takes on through the Mexican Cleveland Committee.

“Every time a Mexican person is coming, they let me know if I can at least share with them where they can buy tortillas, where can they take their kids, if there’s any content that they can access in Spanish, if there’s something they can go to, events or something, and that’s when it comes, also the opportunity that I have to work with the Mexican Cleveland Committee as a volunteer,” González said.

González, who moved to the states in 2018, recently helped advise the organization on how they should navigate Cinco de Mayo celebrations.

“If you go to a bar or if you see on the TV a commercial about tequila or beer, it never says ‘Mexicans defeated the French army on May 15, 1862.’ Right? It’s more about you celebrate, wear a sombrero, have something colorful and bring the mariachi. It’s not even explaining why Mexicans were so brave to do what they did. So, yeah. I think it’s not really like a Mexican party itself, because it’s not,” González said. “I would love to know how many Mexicans are like really in those bars drinking.”

Outside of school, González said she didn’t celebrate the holiday living in Mexico.

“It’s more like a normal day just to commemorate what happened, but not like a big party,” González explained. 

She thinks people may confuse Cinco de Mayo with Mexico’s Independence Day in September.

“I think it has to do with a period of time when both wars and battles happen,” González said.

González doesn’t drink herself, but fears the role alcohol plays in American celebrations may contribute to cultural appropriation.

“There’s new brands of tequila, or we have new brands of mezcal, and it’s a great opportunity for companies, don’t get me wrong. I mean, I’ve been working in corporate environments for years, but it’s more like the opportunity to sell and increase your revenue on a specific day because the Mexican and Latin community in the United States is big,” González added.

Instead, González said she chooses to spend the day learning about the true meaning of the holiday with her son.

“The French army was 6,000 men and [the] Mexican army from Puebla was around 4,000,” González said. “So, it’s something to be really proud of because it was like with no men, with no guns, with no organized army, they won. So, I think that’s why it’s more like important to celebrate or continue sharing these with the generations.”