# Do people really shoot fireworks for Martin Luther King Day? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 21, 2022, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539 "2022-06-21T06:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/1 "2022-06-21T06:48:57Z")
I was listening to a popular podcast where the host made the claim they were driving through a city during Martin Luther King Day this year and saw actual fireworks flying into the air at night, and the host made the assertion that “In some cities especially with large black populations people will shoot fireworks into the air to celebrate MLK Day”. I have literally never heard of this, nor do I hear fireworks go off in my city during MLK Day despite also have a large African-American population here, so I found this statement rather odd. Granted, I didn’t know Juneteenth was an actual thing before 5 years ago so I don’t know if I’m just out of touch. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/2 "2022-06-21T12:13:48Z")
I’ve never experienced this, altho I know some people look for any excuse to set off fireworks. But I live in a rural county with lots of Amish, so probably not the demographic to celebrate MLK Day vigorously. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/3 "2022-06-21T12:21:30Z")
I’ve lived in an urban environment for 20 years now and have never observed that nor even read about it. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/4 "2022-06-21T13:05:22Z")
Not in Atlanta. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/5 "2022-06-21T13:21:03Z")
Really? In my part of Atlanta, people will shoot fireworks for anything. 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Thursday before a long weekend… it’s become incredibly annoying after Georgia legalized the bigger types of display fireworks for consumer use. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/6 "2022-06-21T13:30:58Z")
True. They were terrorizing the animals with fireworks on Memorial Day. But I didn’t hear anything on MLK or Juneteenth. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/7 "2022-06-21T14:05:19Z")
I expect that it’s mostly people who bought fireworks for New Year’s Eve, and didn’t use them all up then, and MLK Day is just the next convenient opportunity to have a party and set the rest of them off. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/8 "2022-06-21T16:19:55Z")
There are idiots in my neighborhood who will set off noisy crap way late at night just because it’s a day ending in Y. Hard to tell if MLK Day was anything special there. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/9 "2022-06-21T16:44:53Z")
Nowadays people seem to set off loud fireworks for most anything. It’s going to get them banned one day. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/10 "2022-06-21T16:50:14Z")
Fireworks are banned in Illinois. It doesn’t stop anything. ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/11 "2022-06-21T21:58:29Z")
Around here, the only holidays people celebrate with fireworks are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Seriously. Year round. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2022, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-people-really-shoot-fireworks-for-martin-luther-king-day/966539/12 "2022-06-21T22:18:31Z")
People on my NextDoor have started complaining in advance about Fourth of July, and someone mentioned fireworks were shot off this previous MLK Day. I didn’t hear any.