This is part one of a two-part series exploring critical race theory (CRT) and its influence on diversity and inclusion efforts in workplaces and classrooms.

Julia Carrie Wong is a senior reporter for The Guardian, and she’s been covering the ongoing debate around CRT in schools and federal employee trainings. CRT is an academic discipline that teaches that racism is deeply embedded into U.S. legal and political systems.

Wong talks with host Porter Braswell about what CRT is, efforts to ban CRT from classrooms, and why some institutions are resistant to making CRT a standard educational tool.