Thread: In Mexico, the underdog has his day

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In Mexico, the underdog has his day
Web Posted: 09/16/2005 12:00 AM CDT

Dane Schiller
Express-News Mexico City Bureau

MEXICO CITY â€â€

http://www2.sbsun.com/news/ci_3033251

Mexican holiday a link to homeland
Independence Day celebrated today
Stephen Wall
San Bernardino County Sun

South of the border, it's one big party that lasts three days.
In San Bernardino County, the celebrations are smaller but equally fervent.

Millions of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans today will mark the start of Mexico's 11-year war of independence against Spain with food, music, dancing and rousing speeches.

Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day, remains significant for immigrants who have come to the United States for a better life.

The holiday is also important for Mexican-Americans who want to preserve their ties to the mother country.

"For a lot of Mexican-Americans in the U.S., the connection to Mexico in terms of language, culture and identity is reinforced by celebrating the holidays," said Elsa Valdez, a sociology professor at Cal State San Bernardino.

Valdez, a Mexican immigrant who came to the United States illegally at age 5, said the celebrations reveal how Mexicans are just as patriotic as their U.S. counterparts.

"This holiday is a symbol of the fact that Mexicans also value independence, civic duty, nationalism and all those different characteristics we value in the United States," Valdez said.

In cities and towns throughout Mexico, mayors, governors and President Vicente Fox will re-enact "El Grito de la Independencia," or cry of independence, first uttered by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a priest in the town of Dolores, Guanajuato.

In the early morning of Sept. 16, 1810, Hidalgo rang the church bells of Dolores, urging about 600 followers to wage war against Spanish troops.

It would take 11 years and thousands of deaths, including Hidalgo's, for the country to gain its freedom.

Carlos Giralt-Cabrales, Mexico's consul serving San Bernardino and Riverside counties, will perform "grito" ceremonies in Fontana, Victorville and Ontario this weekend.

He won't ring any church bells, but Giralt-Cabrales will yell the famous words recited in honor of the heroes of the independence movement: "Mexicanos, Viva Mexico)

Giralt-Cabrales said Mexicans relive the past as a connection to the present and a link to the future.

"I think Mexicans proudly remember our beginnings and gain confidence in the future of Mexico when we think of the many, many challenges that we have confronted in life and how we overcome those challenges as a nation and a society," Giralt-Cabrales said.

Students at Del Vallejo Middle School in San Bernardino today will show what Mexican Independence Day means to them with traditional musical and dance performances.

"As we challenge ourselves to learn more about our cultures and our neighbors' cultures, we simultaneously gain a sense of respect, appreciation and understanding for each other," said Vice Principal Nertha Arroyo-Vite, who organized the event called "Celebrating Liberation and Opportunity."

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