Youth Expertise - Give Gen Z the Reins to Commemorate America’s 250th Anniversary
Note: This essay is part of CIRCLE's 2024 Youth Expertise Series, which gives young leaders the opportunity to share their perspectives and experiences on issues and dynamics shaping young people's engagement in civic life.
About the author: Cameron Katz - Cameron Katz (she/her, 24, Georgia) is a Community Engagement Manager at Made by Us, a collaboration of 200+ history museums and historic sites—from the Smithsonian to local organizations—joining forces to ignite and inform Gen Z civic participation. Cameron is interested in bringing history to the current conversation and inspiring optimism in young people across the political spectrum. In addition to her critical work bridging museums and civic engagement, Cameron is also a contributor to Teen Vogue and she is part of CIRCLE's Young Leaders Learning Community.
According to a recent CIRCLE study, 57% of people between the ages of 18 to 34 said they were “extremely likely to vote” in the 2024 presidential election, with an additional 15% saying they were “fairly likely to vote.” Together, that means that nearly three-quarters of young Americans are interested in engaging with civic life. Yet many of them still feel disillusioned with our democracy. Compare the high intention to vote with the dismal 16% of Gen Zers who are proud to live in the United States. As Gen Z steps into adulthood, their view of the future is grim: more than half of 18-29-year-olds say that the American Dream “was once possible” but isn’t anymore.
Although Gen Z feels discontent with the state of our country, their intention to participate in civic life is a valuable signal: not all hope is lost. In fact, that discontent is fueling Gen Z’s desire to make their voices heard at the polls and beyond. Despite the narrative that often frames young people as apathetic, Gen Z is engaged and still believes in some of the building blocks of our democracy. Why would they show up at the polls if there wasn’t some optimism that our country could change?
This hopeful, engaged attitude—even if motivated by dissatisfaction with the now—is certainly patriotic, but Gen Z wouldn’t describe it that way. According to the PACE Civic Language Perceptions Project, Gen Z respondents had the most negative perception of the word “patriotism” compared to any other civic term, including “bipartisan,” “American,” and “liberty.” Additionally, Gen Z’s unfavorable view of the term “patriotism” was nearly double that of other generations. But shouldn’t passion for building a better country for everyone be considered “patriotism”? By that definition, surely Gen Z is patriotic, even if that term might give them the ick now.
There is a crucial moment coming in 2026 that could redefine patriotism for this generation: the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding. How we choose to mark this anniversary really matters. As institutions across the country begin plans to commemorate the 250th, some are taking the predictable route: hot dogs, fireworks, and 1776.
For Gen Z, this stereotypically patriotic approach most likely isn’t going to cut it. The 250th presents an opportunity for unity, but also to explore the gray area of our nation’s history. Where have we achieved our country’s founding ideals? Where have we fallen short? How can we celebrate all of the progress that has been made over the last 250 years and reckon with the work that still remains to be done? This commemoration can be as much about the past as it is about the future, and young people need to be at the helm of the conversation.
History shows us that frustrated, fed-up young people have always led the way. When the Declaration of Independence was signed, Thomas Jefferson was only 33, James Madison was 25, and Alexander Hamilton was 21. James Monroe, who would later become president, was still a teenager, at age 18. The trend isn’t relegated to revolutionary America either. In 1845, 27-year-old Frederick Douglass wrote the groundbreaking Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. In 1909, 23-year-old Clara Lemlich Shavelson led a labor protest of 20,000 people in New York City. In 1955, 26-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. steered the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1971, 26-year-old Marsha P. Johnson and 20-year-old Sylvia Rivera started the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR), a pioneering organization to support trans youth and organizing.
Time and time again in our history, young people have felt empowered to address their points of dissatisfaction in our country. We face challenging times now, with political polarization, financial distress, and extreme distrust in our institutions. But the young people in history who forged change were facing challenging times too and their hope for a better future is what drove change. That’s patriotism if you ask me.
Although young people have historically been the visionaries for the future of the United States, they are missing from current conversations about how we think about our country and where we’re going next, starting with this very anniversary. The 250th can change that. The Youth250 program by Made By Us is one example of a project that brings deeper Gen Z participation to this moment, providing an opportunity to envision the next 250 years of our country.
Youth250 brings together hundreds of Gen Z participants and institutional leaders from 400+ history museums to imagine a future we can all be proud of, with youth input at the center of it all. Using data from intergenerational workshops held in Atlanta, GA, Fishers, IN, Salt Lake City, UT, and Philadelphia, PA, Youth250 will design a toolkit for museums, organizations, and institutions to create meaningful programming. Additionally, organizations will have access to the Youth250 Bureau, a group of 100+ trained Gen Z advisors who will work directly with institutions to infuse youth voice into 250th planning. The Bureau will launch this winter.
Perhaps by amplifying Gen Z voices and leadership, this generation can reclaim patriotism, not only as a celebration of who we are but also as a reckoning with all that we can become.
