San Diego County’s plans for its Fourth of July celebration have drawn criticism after a schedule circulated showing several hours of programming centered on community recognition, cultural stories and inclusivity.
Bill Wells, the Republican mayor of El Cajon, shared the Independence Day lineup on Monday, noting that the event includes nearly three hours of remarks and presentations highlighting Native, Black, Latino, Asian American, Pacific Islander and LGBTQ+ communities.
According to the schedule, the evening is set to begin at 5:45 p.m. with a “Tribal Intimate blessing welcoming to land (TBD),” followed at 6 p.m. by a “Welcoming and Land Acknowledgement.”
The program then lists a series of segments over the next two hours and 50 minutes, including a “Tribal Invocation,” “Local Tribal Community Stories,” “Latino Community stories,” “Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander Community stories,” “LGBTQIA+ Community stories” and “Black and African Community stories.”
The schedule also includes a 15-minute portion for performances of both the National Anthem and the Black National Anthem.
The fireworks show is scheduled to begin at 9:05 p.m., following roughly three hours of speeches, acknowledgements and community-focused programming.
Wells, who has served as mayor of El Cajon, a city east of San Diego, since 2013, voiced his frustration with the planned lineup in a post on X.
“I have an alternative plan,” he wrote. “1. Acknowledge America and its greatness. 2. Celebrate with fireworks and the American National Anthem.”
The mayor of El Cajon, Bill Wells, recently revealed San Diego County’s July 4th celebration schedule, which will include three hours of speeches focused on inclusivity
The speeches and remarks will begin at 5.45pm, and the fireworks display will start at 9.05pm. San Diego’s July 4th fireworks show in 2021 is pictured
The county plans to host a ‘Tribal Intimate blessing welcoming to land (TBD).’ Then at 6pm, there will be a ‘Welcoming and Land Acknowledgement’
Incredulous social media users questioned whether the over-the-top schedule was real, prompting Wells to make a follow-up post showing the minutes from a San Diego County meeting where the plans were decided.
The mayor wrote that on February 10, ‘Supervisors Desmond and Anderson brought forward a 250th celebration for the whole region.
‘The three Democrats rewrote it, tied it to the county’s “equity, inclusion, and racial justice goals,” and handed planning to the Office of Equity and Racial Justice.’
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He provided pictures of documents from the meeting, which indeed show that the board of supervisors, ‘Directed the CAO [Chief Administrative Officer] to coordinate with the Office of Equity and Racial Justice (OERJ) and the County’s Tribal Liaison.’
The purpose of that coordination was to ensure that the celebration, ‘Incorporates meaningful community engagement, with particular emphasis on tribal nations and indigenous groups, immigrant communities… LGBTQ+ communities, and other historically underserved populations,’ according to the document.
The revealed schedule prompted backlash from many users on X who found it unnecessarily lengthy and inclusive, with a lack of focus on the holiday’s roots.
‘This is so over the top, I refuse to believe this is real! Please tell me this is a joke. If this is real, the communists have already won,’ one user wrote.
‘This sounds absolutely excruciating,’ a second put it simply.
Users on social media questioned whether the schedule was real, prompting Wells to share this follow-up tweet that includes documents from the meeting when the schedule was decided
The schedule faced backlash from this user on X and those below
‘I see they have NO plans to discuss the Declaration of Independence or the founding of this great nation. Glad I don’t live there,’ another said.
‘So this too is going to be negative political garbage instead of fun fireworks for the kids and family? Why do Democrats hate children and families so much? They want to get rid of anything fun. It is horrible!’ a fourth wrote.
The Daily Mail has reached out to San Diego County for comment regarding the schedule and the backlash it has received.
