Fireworks Firestorm: Fox News Aims Ire At Evanston Over Fests

EVANSTON, IL — After social media posts juxtaposing the cancellation of Evanston's traditional July 4 festivities with its Juneteenth and Pride celebrations led to national media coverage, Mayor Daniel Biss described the resulting outrage as "fabricated."

Over the weekend, Fox News posted an article with the headline, "Illinois city cancels July 4 parade over COVID-19 concerns but allows Juneteenth and Pride celebrations," which says that "some took to social media to voice their frustration." It goes on to cite a single tweet from Evanston resident Tom Bevan, publisher of the website RealClearPolitics.

Biss said the suggestion that city officials had made a decision to cancel Independence Day while deciding to celebrate Juneteenth and Pride was false and an example of manufactured outrage from conservative media.

"What actually happens is that each event is run by a different volunteer group. The July 4th Association, which plans well in advance, had to decide whether to go forward back in March," Biss said in a post. "Back then it wasn't clear it would be safe to do in-person festivities so they decided to go virtual."

The Evanston 4th of July Association is a volunteer-run nonprofit funded entirely by donations. Unlike in some suburban communities, Evanston's traditional Independence Day parade, concert and fireworks do not use taxpayer money.

It was founded as the North Evanston Fourth of July Association after a child suffered a fireworks injury in 1921 at the suggestion of the Patriotic Education Committee of the North End Mothers’ Club, according to its website.

The parade down Central Street to Ryan Field traditionally draws more than 10,000 spectators and has been ranked among the top three in the nation by Country Home magazine. Many attendees would call "dibs" weeks in advance to mark out a spot to spectate along the route. But in 2004, the City Council passed an ordinance restricting residents from leaving seats on the parkway prior to 6 a.m. on July 1.

On March 17, association representatives issued a statement announcing its trustees had voted to cancel the July 4 parade, fun run, concert and lakefront fireworks show, citing "concern for public health due to the unpredictability of the pandemic's impact, vaccination rates, and in cooperation with local authorities."

The association's announcement came just one day before Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced modifications to Phase 4 of his Restore Illinois COVID-19 response plan and defined the framework for moving to Phase 5 — full reopening.

Evanston is not the only north suburb to have cancelled the fireworks and parade portion of its traditional 4th of July festivities. Organizers of Skokie's parade and 3D fireworks show have also called it off, while Winnetka, Glencoe and Highland Park have postponed their fireworks to Labor Day weekend.

Jamie Black, one of the trustees, told Fox News that the decision was made based on the information available at the time and influenced by deadlines for permits, reserving fireworks and taking applications.

"We erred on the side of caution," Black said. "If things weren’t better, we would have been criticized for being a super spreader event."

The mayor speculated that the "fourth-tier right-wing panic" over the cancellation may have begun with a post from "well-known grifter" Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and Wheeling High School graduate, which questioned the "real agenda" behind Evanston's summer festival schedule.

Biss' statement explained the summer's events were scheduled by different nonprofit groups on a different timetable.

"The Juneteenth and Pride events, which are newer and smaller, were put together more quickly, so their organizers were able to decide whether to be in person much more recently, when we had a lot more public health information," he said.

Evanston's inaugural in-person Juneteenth parade was organized by Evanston Present and Future, a nonprofit founded more than two years ago by Kemone Hendricks. Its mission is to "educate and empower individuals, families, and the community to build a better future together and ensure the well-being of all, especially those of a minority or those facing prejudice or discrimination," according to its website. Other programs include a Reparations Ambassador Program, Teen Parent Leadership Program and the Juneteenth Creative Dance Team.

Hundreds of residents attended Saturday's Juneteenth parade and celebration, which included fire trucks escorting participants from the Robert Crown Center to Ingraham Park, the Evanston RoundTable reported. Speakers, music, dance and other performances outside the Civic Center mark the newest state and federal holiday, which celebrates Black culture and commemorates the end of chattel slavery in confederate states.

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Hendricks said she was not surprised on the attack on Juneteenth's new status as a federal holiday. She noted it was her third year organizing a celebration of the holiday, including last year's virtual parade, and said city staff offered the same support provided to other organizations' special events.

"Celebrating Juneteenth on a larger level requires white people to take a deeper look at their past and the actions of their ancestors, some are still not ready for that," Hendricks told Patch Tuesday via text message.

"The 4th of July association has reached out to me many times for guidance and also was a sponsor for the Juneteenth parade," she added. "The collective wanting to not support July 4th I believe is a great thing and a chance for the 4th of July association to take a deeper look at how they have conducted business in the community."

While Bevan and Kirk both said that Evanston was having a "Gay Pride Parade," organizers told residents "we can't have a traditional parade, but you can help us make the whole town a parade."

In an event inspired by this year's "Yardi Gras" phenomenon — where New Orleanians decorated their homes in the style of Mardi Gras floats — a car parade will drive to various houses ahead of a bring-your-own-food picnic is planned for the afternoon at James Park.

The picnic is set to be followed by a candle lighting and remembrance ceremony at 7 p.m. at the Civic Center "to honor and remember those lost to violence, disease or discrimination in the long fight for LGBTQIA+ equality and visibility," according to organizers from Evanston Pride Inc., the nonprofit group founded in 2019 that aimed to hold its first Pride parade last year.

Previous Fox News coverage of Evanston has been blamed for a series of threatening messages and other communication to local administrators and elected officials.

In August, a Foxnews.com article headlined, "Illinois district includes students of color in groups with first chance at in-person learning: report," preceded a flood of angry emails and several postcards sent to Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board members containing ominous references to Bible verses mentioning death.

Following the incident, Fox News declined to comment to Pioneer Press about the content or response to the article, which was largely aggregated from the RoundTable.

And in April, the Fox News Channel waded into District 65's school board elections, inviting a candidate on the morning program "Fox and Friends" to criticize the district's curriculum about race after it was highlighted by The Atlantic magazine.

Biss urged his constituents not to get caught up in stories that are designed to stoke cultural conflict.

"Whether it's ginning up made-up controversies about critical race theory in elementary school, or mischaracterizing gender affirming care for trans youth, the right has one goal: scare the hell out of people to keep them watching, clicking, donating, and voting," he said.

"And while this silly Evanston story has no real consequences, there are huge stakes when right-wing provocateurs make up lies that weaponize vulnerable people and eventually change policy for the worse."