People who go through the typical U.S. education are pretty confused about Hispanic culture. Our schools teach some things that don’t really exist or don’t matter. The result is that people tend to think of foreign culture in terms of holidays, and in ways that aren’t accurate. I’m happy to give examples at this time of year.

1. Spanish classes teach that Las Posadas are a central religious Christmas tradition in Mexico. But people in Mexico will tell you that the tradition is no longer widely observed in the way our schools tend to teach. In fact, I just listened to two well-educated men in Mexico say: “Las posadas ya no son nada.” (Las Posadas are nothing anymore.) They were referring to the way the tradition has turned increasingly into parties and dancing. It’s not that nobody observes the tradition in its religious form, but its meaning continues to disappear from Mexico’s cultural landscape. Schools just need to keep things in perspective and up to date when they teach about holidays.

2. Día de los Muertos is another Mexican tradition that our schools teach as the BIG deal in Hispanic culture. In most places in Mexico, the holiday is still celebrated, but in different ways and with different theologies. On the other hand, almost all Mexicans who come here leave the holiday behind, except as a memory. It is pretty doggone hard to find many immigrants who still celebrate it the way our schools describe and reenact it. Whether I check in with Hispanic bakeries, party supply stores, or individuals as I travel around the U.S., I get this answer: “Really, I don’t know of anyone who is actually celebrating the holiday anymore.” This doesn’t mean schools are wrong to teach about it, but they should stay up to date on it. For instance, there are very interesting reasons why most Mexican immigrants do not continue the tradition, and these are sometimes the same reasons why many people in urban centers in Mexico have a difficult time continuing the tradition.

3. I’ve said it before, and so have Mexicans: Hardly anyone in Mexico celebrates or cares about Cinco de Mayo. Yet our schools continue teaching it as a point of cultural contact with our neighbor to the south. Cinco de Mayo is not a Mexican national holiday. Somehow it has stuck like glue to the curriculum, whether in regular schools or homes.

There are many other Hispanic countries and customs to talk about. Max and Max Spanish lessons give kids all kinds of insights into daily life. Holidays, whether accurately portrayed or not, are a relatively small piece of culture. Students like to learn about the several hundred other days of the year too.

A Mexican entrepreneur who attended one of the cultural sessions I conduct for small businesses said, “We adopt Cinco de Mayo when we come here.” She does not celebrate it in her homeland. She never saw it celebrated in Mexico.

Another Mexican gave an extended amount of time during her Spanish radio program last year to wonder out loud how people in this country have come to make such a big deal of Cinco de Mayo. “You go around to the cities of Mexico and nobody’s celebrating it,” she said. “It’s incredible, it’s just incredible how the people here in the U.S. make such a big deal of it!”

Only a few minutes ago I received an email telling me about a local Mexican-American woman who had to calm down a friend who wanted to decorate the woman’s car in a Cinco de Mayo theme. The woman told her friend, “It’s not even a holiday.”

Schools in the U.S. continue to think Cinco de Mayo represents a significant part of Hispanic tradition and history. The day is not on Mexico’s list of national holidays. In fact, all the hoopla here confuses a lot of Mexicans and other Hispanics, who mistake it for Mexico’s day of independence from Spain. Mexicans are forever telling fellow Mexicans in the U.S. that Cinco de Mayo is NOT their independence day. (The town of Puebla, Mexico, where the people initially overwhelmed the invading French, still celebrates May 5.)

There is nothing wrong with celebrating Cinco de Mayo. It’s just remarkable that May 5 is given the priority it has in our schools. This is what I tell my students: If you miss on something like this, imagine how much more you don’t know about our neighbors to the south.