Rep. Burgess Owens touts need for his newly launched Merit Caucus

Rep. Burgess Owens says he imagines a world where race isn’t “a measure of intelligence and potential.”

“Unfortunately, over the past several years, the political Left has tried to drag us down,” Owens wrote in an opinion piece published in Fox News on July 21. “They are intent on teaching Black and Brown students that the system is stacked against them, there is nothing they can do to stop it, and it is better to live in a perpetual state of victimhood.”

Owens said he witnessed racism first hand during his childhood “in the Jim Crow South.” But on the other hand, he said he saw the opportunity the U.S. has to offer.

“I was raised by educators who taught me that success was possible; I just needed to work for it. And I did,” he said.

That’s the reason he started the Merit Caucus to start conversations about overcoming challenges through hard work and rejecting notions of racism when it comes to high standards and expectations, as the Deseret News previously reported .

How is the left influencing the education system? Here’s what Rep. Owens said

The Utah representative said the left’s “pessimistic message” centered around race holds students back. He argued that schools across the country “are waging a war on merit by lowering standards, canceling advanced and AP classes, and replacing entrance exams with arbitrary quota systems all in the name of so-called equity,” Owens said.

He cited various examples of this “war on merit,” like the Fairfax County school’s “grading for equity” training for teachers amid learning gaps from COVID-19, and the Seattle Public Schools’ decision to eliminate 11 programs for gifted children. Other school districts nationwide are exploring such policies.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in 2021 signed a bill allowing students to graduate without passing reading, writing and math at the senior high school grade level, Owens noted. “What happened? Students figured out they could show up briefly, get marked present, leave, and hand in two assignments, and they would still be able to pass,” he added.

“Our education system needs an overhaul. Schools should not be looking for ways to lower standards. Slashing academic opportunities is not the answer,” Owens, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development, said. “We need policies in place that meet students where they are, help them progress, and challenge them to meet and exceed their true potential. Excellence should be the standard – not the exception.”

Rep. Owens says VP Harris is a ‘DEI hire’

Last week, Owens said Vice President Kamala Harris, who inherited President Joe Biden’s campaign after he dropped out earlier this month, is “the greatest example of DEI,” using an acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion framework. Harris is of Jamaican and South Asian descent.

“For those who believe in DEI, this is exactly what DEI is like. Kamala Harris,” Owens continued. His comments prompted other GOP lawmakers, like Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., to also call Harris a “DEI hire.”

But House Speaker Mike Johnson said campaigns shouldn’t be about personality but policy.

“This has nothing to do with race. It has to do with the competence of the person running for president, the relative strength of the two candidates and what ideas they have on how to solve America’s problems,” Johnson, R-La., said. “And I think in that comparison, we’ll win in a landslide.”