Peoria Standard

Jason Kassis is convinced the skepticism about critical race theory isn’t limited to just one race or party.

“It’s not supported by a majority, regardless of political party,” Kassis recently commented on Facebook in response to a WMBD post that branded it a “lightning rod of the GOP.”

Kassis later added “it was constructed by the left to divide people.”

 Since speaking out against the curriculum, radio host and black father Ty Smith said he definitely feels targeted.

Smith recently appeared on Fox Business Channel, where he laughed off all the criticism and resistance to his position. 

“How do I have two medical degrees if I’m sitting here oppressed,” he said. “The very type of person that they were talking about, that was down, and suppressed, and oppressed, and … disproportionate, and for me to be able to come out of that, to work my way through school to get where I am, I just call BS on it – it’s nonsense.”

Smith raised those same concerns and then some during a recent District 87 School Board meeting where he again called foul and warned the he fears the teachings will do more harm than good, especially where the minds of young, impressionable students are concerned.

“How to dislike each other, that’s pretty much all it's going to come down to,” Smith said in a video posted to YouTube. “You’re going to deliberately teach kids this white kid got it better than you because he’s white. You’re going to purposely tell a white kid all the black people are down and oppressed. How do I have two medical degrees if I’m sitting here oppressed? No mom, no dad in the house, I worked my way through college.”

The issue of critical race theory has sparked a national debate over teaching about race and racism in school districts. Often compared by critics to actual racism, CRT is a school of thought that generally focuses on how power structures and institutions impact racial minorities.