By: Marina Han
The Fourth of July has been a popular tradition in the United States for almost 155 years, but some people have decided not to celebrate it anymore.
U.S. citizens, especially younger people, have started to become hesitant to join in the celebration of the Fourth of July. A survey conducted by YouGov reported that only 56% of American adults decided to celebrate. There are multiple reasons as to why the amount of people enjoying the tradition has decreased – it could be because of problems with the country and its nationalism or just with the holiday in general. But either way, people are already sliding away from the tradition.
One reason people have started to dislike the Fourth of July is because it is reflective of the things they dislike in the country. For example, Malaya Tapp, an 18 year old who grew up in Benton, Arkansas, used to love celebrating the holiday with her loved ones. “We would go to parades and see firework shows and hang out with friends,” she said to a The New York Times journalist. “It was always such a fun holiday.” However, now she thinks that it is not worth celebrating Independence Day anymore. In 2020, during the Black Lives Matter movement, she realized that the U.S. was not so perfect. “I lost a lot of my patriotic feelings,” she shared. Marissa Vivori, 29 and lives in Manhattan, stated to The New York Times, “Last summer Roe v. Wade was overturned, and that really made me less inclined to celebrate.” Roe v. Wade was an overturned Supreme Court ruling that had established the right to abortion nationally. As shown, some people are visualizing the U.S. in a completely new light; what they thought the U.S. to be before is now believed to be untrue.
According to both Tapp and Vivori, the Fourth of July just isn’t for them. Tapp shared to a The New York Times journalist that the fireworks make her anxious because they sound like gunshots, which remind her of the many crimes related to guns on the news. “They are also bad for the environment. They release a lot of toxic chemicals,” she added. Vivori reported to a The New York Times journalist, “You’re either in Manhattan, and it’s super-hot, and you are figuring out where you are watching the fireworks. Or you are trying to leave to go to the Jersey Shore or the Hamptons, and it’s a fortune and overcrowded.” Actually, Vivori admitted that she never really liked the Fourth of July. “I remember even as a kid feeling bad for the animals during the fireworks,” she said. But now, Vivori is finally sharing her opinion and saying no to the tradition.
Just like Vivori, Allison Bartella, 30 and lives in Brooklyn, never truly loved Independence Day. “I feel like it’s kind of the New Year’s Eve of the summer,” she stated to a The New York Times journalist. “Expectations are high, and they are usually not met. The food is always sitting out in the sun, and it’s hot, and you are getting scared by random fireworks in the street, and it just doesn’t turn out how you want it to be.” According to Bartella, the Fourth of July just is not as fun as it is meant to be.
But how many people actually do not want to celebrate the Fourth of July? Conner Miskowiec, 28 and a content creator in Arizona, interviewed many people on their opinion about Independence Day. “I got everything from, ‘America is the greatest country in the world, and we have to celebrate the American dream,’ to ‘This country has a lot to work on, and America isn’t so free, and I don’t feel like celebrating,’” he reported to a The New York Times journalist. “I honestly didn’t expect to get the variety of answers I got.” It was shocking to hear just how many people actually did not want to celebrate the holiday.
There might be some people that dislike Independence Day, but there are many others who still want to celebrate it. Isaac Norbe, 40 and lives in Seattle, shared to a The New York Times journalist that the Fourth of July is “about celebrating your community and the community you create with the people around you.” He added, “It’s about celebrating everyone in the country and it should be for everyone.” For him, the holiday is for supporting each other and the country.
Obviously, there are always different opinions on celebrating Independence Day with good reasons to support them. It is hard to tell if next year’s Fourth of July will have more or less people celebrating. But it’s important to respect what everyone thinks.