The second of a three-part special series investigating the fight over critical race theory and asking how the anti-CRT movement became such a powerful new social, legislative and political force. The debate has become centred on how race, gender and sexuality are discussed in public schools. In this episode, The Economist’s Tamara Gilkes Borr, a former public-school teacher, puts the politics to one side to find out what is actually happening in America’s classrooms.

When critics point to the evils of CRT, they are often talking about programmes like ethnic studies and social-emotional learning. Tamara travels to San Francisco to sit in on some classes and find out what is really being taught. She hears from a mother in Arizona concerned about a book assigned to her 9-year-old daughter. And she speaks to researchers working to quantify whether the teaching of topics associated with CRT helps or harms students.

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