For generations, this has been a time for Americans to come together and celebrate the freedom and independence so many won for us and for Americans to come. We’ve watched the night sky light up with fireworks displays as part of the Independence Day celebrations.

We also implore our community to not drink and drive. As Mothers Against Drunk Drivers point out, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics show that 201 people died in alcohol-related crashes from 6 p.m. July 2 to 5:59 a.m. July 6, 2020. Drunk driving was blamed for 41% of all traffic deaths during the long weekend, and 85% of the fatal crashes occurred at night, between 6 p.m. and 5:59 a.m.

Drunk driving was responsible for a quarter of the fatalities in 2020 on Georgia roads. And the number of alcohol-related incidents is going in the wrong direction — in 2021, more than 12,000 people were killed in drunk driving accidents, the most since 2007.

Drunk driving deaths are rising at an alarming rate. Preliminary estimates for 2021 show more than 12,000 people were killed by drunk driving – the highest number since 2007. In 2020, one person was killed in a drunk driving crash every 45 minutes. Alcohol-related incidents also are taking place at an alarming rate on the water. According to MADD, 

alcohol was listed as the leading contributing factor in 16% of boating deaths in 2021.

Our nation, rarely unified in thought and spirit, has been rendered as it is mired in one of its most bitterly divided episodes.

While the actions of our elected officials haven’t sunk to the levels of Rep. Preston Brooks going from the House chambers to the Senate and taking a cane to Sen. Charles Sumner and thrashing him to within an inch of his life, the discourse from our political leaders seems to be sowing only more discord.

But on this weekend, when many of our communities, such as Thomasville and Cairo, are again celebrating our independence with the time-honored tradition of fireworks, we hope that as a community and on a larger scale as a nation we can come together to enjoy the experiment in democracy that is America. Our nation is not perfect but it is still the beacon of freedom and prosperity for the rest of the world.

And that’s worth celebrating.