Good morning. Welcome to Axios today. We've made it to Wednesday. It's June 9th. I'm Naila Boudou.

Here's how we're making you smarter today. New intelligence on the capital insurrection.

Plus, a record number of American job openings. But first, today's one big thing.

Why everyone's talking about critical race theory.

You've probably heard the term critical race theory recently.

Republican lawmakers and at least nine states have come out strongly against this.

Claiming the theory is divisive and they're trying to ban its teaching in schools.

Most Democrats strongly disagree.

So what exactly is this decade's old academic concept that's become a key fight in America's

culture wars? I asked Russell Contreras, Axios's race and justice reporter to come on to

explain what this is and how it's being talked about now. Good morning, Russ.

Thanks for having me. Russ, so this has been around for 40 years. What is this theory?

Well, critical race theory is this framework developed in the 1970s by legal scholars that

argues white supremacy maintains power through the law and other legal systems.

Critical race theorists dismiss the notion that racism stems from acts of individuals.

They say however, racism is a systemic problem seeped in into our national founding.

They point out that the Declaration of Independence refers to Native Americans as savages.

And the US Constitution once counted enslaved black people as three fifths a person.

So they say you cannot understand the creation of the United States without seeing how racism

played a role in its formation.

How did this enter our modern political discourse?

The protest that came out of last summer with the death of George Floyd.

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