Hot & Spicy for you in Ohio
May 2nd, 2007 by 
elenamary
I saw this sign yesterday at a market here in Columbus. They sell local foods, organic foods, and hard to find goods…or at least they try to. On Saturday’s farmers bring in their goods to sell.
Anyway, I found this banner to be hilarious. What does “Cinco d’ Ohio” mean? What is up with the D’, I don’t understand the apostrophe. And the “spice of life in Ohio” and “hot music”?
I am sure many of my readers have discussed in their Latino identity classes about how whenever describing our people and culture the words “hot” and “spicy” are used. Way to go North Market in using both in a banner that has less than 20 words.
Posted in Mexican Culture, Ohio | 
Laura Says:
May 2nd, 2007 at 2:16 pm
On a similar note…the Cinco de Mayo celebration in the states is something that really threw my boyfriend (who is mexican) off when he went to visit the states in May. We went to UDF where the cashier wished me a “Happy Cinco de Mayo” and my boyfriend just looked at me like….what? I understand that it is celebrated in Puebla, here (in Queretaro) people don’t even mention it. And it is something that has become so widespread now…most people seem to think it is the Mexican independence day and they just use it as an excuse to throw a party and use stereotypes like you mention above. Elena, do you know anything about why this is so celebrated in the states? Am I missing something?
tin Says:
May 3rd, 2007 at 8:51 am
you are right hot and spicy is a racist way to think about mexicans. some fools would even be proud of it, not realizing that there is really no positive prejudice.
at least here in california i have seen an attempt in part of the media to make clear that may 5th is not mexico’s independence day, but La Batalla de Puebla, when we kicked the French out of Mexico, and its a symbol of the struggle against imperialism/colonization, so thats the real purpose. our fight against all forms colonialism, so don’t buy f,cken beer (well, at least not from the US).
Stephanie Czekalinski Says:
May 21st, 2007 at 6:18 am
Hi there,
Josué from the Hispanic Coalition gave me your email. I work at the Columbus Dispatch. Josué said you might be a good person to help me on a story. Please give me a call or send me an email. 614-461-5227 is my number in the office. Take good care.
Stephanie
p.s. Love the blog.