The City of Orlando issued a statement of regret after receiving backlash from residents over an official email that stated “division, hate, and unrest” are reasons to not “celebrate our nation right now.”
In an email to residents about the upcoming holiday sent on Friday, July 1, city officials issued strong language about not celebrating the upcoming holiday due to America being “in strife.”
“A lot of people probably don’t want to celebrate our nation right now, and we can’t blame them,” reads the email. It goes on to suggest that with “so much division, hate and unrest,” residents would not want to “have a party celebrating any of it.”
The email suggested that the only reason to proceed with the festivities was financial, citing the purchase of fireworks.
“Yes, America is in strife right now, but you know what…we already bought the fireworks,” reads the email.
Less than 24 hours later, despite receiving backlash from “some” residents, the city did not issue an apology, but rather, a statement of “regret.”
The City of Orlando sincerely regrets the negative impact our words have had on some in our community. We understand these words offended some of our residents, which was not our intent. We value the freedoms we have in this country and are thankful to the men and women who have fought and continue to fight for those. We take pride in celebrating the 4th of July to express our gratitude to those men and women and honor the country we live in.
The city emails are generally filled with information on city events, but frequently feature opinionated paragraphs on a variety of topics.
In January, city officials suggested the year had a “rocky start.”
“How are you? You doing ok? It’s ok if you’re not. It’s been a little rough, and this year has had a rocky start. Just do us this one favor – keep looking for the good. We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not,” reads the first paragraph of the email.
In March, the city’s regular email suggested residents “still have nine more months of crazy to get through,” in reference to “somehow, someway,” making it to March 2022.