By: Darren Chen

Whenever you think of the 4th of July, do you think about independence and fireworks, or do you think about the loss of patriotism and pollution? Well, this is what 18-year-old Malaya Tapp has to say.

Malaya Tapp, 18, spoke with the New York Times about her feelings on the holiday. When she was younger Tapp used to love celebrating the Fourth of July with her family. However in 2020, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, she said “I lost a lot of my patriotic feelings”. She is not alone in feeling a loss of patriotism. In recent years, the Black Lives Matter movement, in response to various racist incidents, including murder because of skin color and no other motive. The murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police department over a suspected, and not confirmed, use of counterfeit money. George Floyd was a black person, and a lot of prejudiced cops suspect black people of crime. Every year, there is always someone getting thrown into jail for no reason. Often, black people get evicted which is racist.

Also, Malaya Tapp has now abandoned using fireworks because it’s hard to tell the difference between gunshots and fireworks. She also is using new tactics because of the chemicals that fireworks emit into the air. Tapp told the New York Times, “ It’s hard to tell the difference between guns and fireworks, and here there is always something on the news about a shooting or something, so it makes me nervous,” continuing, “They are also bad for the environment. They release a lot of toxic chemicals.”

So this year she had intended to skip the entire holiday by going with her church on a trip, but sadly the trip was canceled because of Covid. According to the New York Times “This year she is skipping the holiday altogether, opting instead to travel with her church youth group to visit a Navajo nation community in Arizona, but the trip was canceled because of a Covid outbreak.”

So now we question, is it really correct to celebrate July 4th like we always do or should we use different tactics that are eco-friendly? That is up to you to decide.