I grew up under Jim Crow and this is a game-changing solution to close America's racist education gap

There's a pressing need to address the growing education gap in America.

Republican Burgess Owens represents Utah's Fourth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. He is a former Super Bowl champion who played ten seasons in the National Football League for the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders. Owens is author of "Liberalism or How to Turn Good Men into Whiners, Weenies and Wimps" (Post Hill Press, July 19, 2016). 

To fully grasp the ineffectiveness of affirmative action, we have to ask ourselves two important questions: What was the impact, and who benefited? During its inception in the 1965 segregated Jim Crow era, education was seen as the primary pipeline to success for the Black community. This belief and commitment led to historically high college graduation rates and thriving Black-owned businesses, contributing to the nation's fastest-growing middle class. Current data, however, reveals a decline in these areas, with Black male college graduations at a low of 40 percent, Black business ownership at 2.4 percent, and decreasing Black middle-class participation.

Affirmative action has proven to be a dismal failure, with educational institutions benefiting financially while Black Americans face insurmountable student loan debt.