Cinco de Mayo

What 'For Greater Glory' can teach us about Mexican history and the 2012 Hispanic vote

Any good historical movie tells us a useful tale about the present as well as the past.

And so the new film, "For Greater Glory," which opens Friday, not only gives us perspective about the history of Mexico but also adds insight into some deep influences on Mexicans and Mexican-Americans today. Indeed, "Glory" might even help us chart the future of the Hispanic vote in 2012 and beyond.Most Americans don't know much about Mexican history, but now that about 10 percent of the US population traces its ancestry back to Mexico, that will surely change. (Hispanics or Latinos from other countries add another five percent, for a total of 15 percent of the US population.) Yet even as American culture digests the difference between, say, Cinco de Mayo and Quinceanera, there are still many lessons to be learned--and Glory provides some powerful lessons.The movie tells the true tale of a Mexican civil war over religion in the mid-to-late 1920s. Yet the roots of the story go back to the previous d...

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