EXCLUSIVE – Conservative activist Kenny Xu believes voters are looking for someone to fight for fairness against "woke" Biden administration policies, and he is equipped to do it.
Last week, the 26-year-old Republican announced his run for Congress in North Carolina after successfully lobbying against race-based policies at Harvard and UNC Medical School, earlier this year. He says these experiences encouraged him to push back against similar policies in place at the federal level.
"I know the voters are going to look at my track record. They're going to look at what I've done, how I fought and successfully won against unfair policies that discriminate against the meritorious. They're going to look at my concern [for] the education system and how are we going to improve, especially minority education in our country, but really education for all Americans," he told Fox News Digital. "They know that I'm speaking to fairness, and I have a proven track record. I mean, I've been seven, eight years pushing victory after victory, taking on institutions, and I'm ready to do it in the federal government."
Xu is running in North Carolina's Democratic-leaning Second Congressional District. However, he expects the 2024 race to become more friendly to Republicans due to redistricting next month and a newly conservative state Supreme Court.
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As public school enrollment has plummeted since the pandemic, the education activist believes voters of all political stripes are looking for someone to hold schools to higher academic standards.
"I think everybody is concerned about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning loss," which studies show has not recovered since the pandemic. "Kids are still 4.1 months behind in math and reading. And a lot of that is due to the fact that we spent our money in the education system on priorities that are irrelevant from the point of learning."
Xu argued education funding needs to be tied to outcomes, but that is not what the Biden administration has done so far. He cited the current administration giving billions of taxpayer dollars to public schools through COVID funds that were for reopening schools but were instead "spent on diversity, equity, and inclusion," as an example of government waste.
Fox News Digital previously reported how the American Rescue Plan provided over $122 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER), which helped multiple states implement "implicit bias" and "anti-racism" training, among other programs.
"Schools spent it on diversity, equity and inclusion. They spent it on new HVAC systems. They spent it on giving their administrators raises, and they did not spend it on efforts to actually counter the learning loss that came from COVID," Xu recalled. "So I'm going to condition that funding on outcomes and outcomes I think is what America's wants right now."
Xu believes public schools are failing minority children and gifted children of any race by focusing on Critical Race Theory and DEI rather than higher academic standards.
"We need to tell the truth. Over the past 40 years, the racial achievement gap hasn't changed. Black kids are still scoring below proficient in some of these big cities. And we know that there are smart kids of every race. So we know that it's because of policies and culture that this is the reason that that's the case," Xu said. "But Democrats have been in charge of the education system for the past 40, 50 years. So why are we going to trust them to fix the racial achievement gaps in our nation? We shouldn't."
In Haywood County, North Carolina, the school district assigned a book called "Dear Martin," which he said tells the story of a young Black man's experience with racism and assault by a White police officer. Xu says the book promotes the belief that America is systemically racist and that is a "very dispiriting and depressive narrative" for minority children to hear.
"And that's something that I'd like to combat for the sake of our minority children, because they should learn to believe in the opportunities that this country has to offer," he said. The activist said gifted students are also being hurt by these policies, citing how some blue states have dropped merit-based programs in public schools.
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While education is a top issue for Xu, he also wants to "restore fairness" in other areas of government as well. As the son of Chinese immigrants, he believes a merit-based immigration system would reflect the same values he seeks to promote in education. The activist says he would advocate for more immigration judges to speed up the process and oppose the lottery system.
"People deserve to come here based on their talent and what they can contribute, not based on a lottery," he added.
At the federal level, he wants to end racial quotas in minority contracting and federal contracts for minority-owned businesses, arguing these policies do more harm than good.
"You could be a 99% White organization. And if you have a Black face as your CEO or on the board, you're a minority-owned organization, It's ridiculous. These categories have to end," he said.
Xu's guiding principle is that DEI policies harm the country because they lower standards and remove a "culture of excellence."
"They reward victimhood. People in corporations should be promoted and hired based on the results that they deliver," he previously told Fox News Digital.
The Republican candidate said holding Attorney General Merrick Garland accountable for reportedly targeting parent protesters is also at the top of his agenda if he gets into office.
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Fox News' Jessica Chasmar contributed to this report.
