If your primary target is specifically institutional racism in developed countries, then I agree, which is why I suggested it.
I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to prioritise, though. If your goal is to reduce disparities between ethnic groups globally, or even to tackle harm from ethnic discrimination globally, I’d guess you can do better elsewhere, in particular in the developing world.
I’d like to see a more detailed explanation about this question, too. Particularly, I wonder how a specific intervention to fight racism would fare in tractability, neglecteness and impact.
On the other hand, I guess that, in a very broad sense, racism (broadly understood as ethnic prejudice and discrimination) likely has externalities affecting EA causes:
a) it fuels internal social strife (civil war, genocide, mistrust, immigration crisis) and increases the odds of external conflict (and even nuclear warfare, like India vs. Pakistan).
b) It may rationalize scope neglect: people fail to recognize the impact of interventions in other cultures, either because they think their lives worth less, or they think progress is unachievable (“what’s the point of saving a child from malaria, if she’ll starve?”). (this is a falsifiable claim, but I couldn’t find anyone testing it)
c) It raises suspicion over other areas. For instance, I think the past association between eugenics and racism may pose an obstacle to discuss improving humanity’s long-term prospects through genetic engineering.
If your primary target is specifically institutional racism in developed countries, then I agree, which is why I suggested it.
I’m not sure if that’s the right thing to prioritise, though. If your goal is to reduce disparities between ethnic groups globally, or even to tackle harm from ethnic discrimination globally, I’d guess you can do better elsewhere, in particular in the developing world.
I’d like to see a more detailed explanation about this question, too. Particularly, I wonder how a specific intervention to fight racism would fare in tractability, neglecteness and impact.
On the other hand, I guess that, in a very broad sense, racism (broadly understood as ethnic prejudice and discrimination) likely has externalities affecting EA causes:
a) it fuels internal social strife (civil war, genocide, mistrust, immigration crisis) and increases the odds of external conflict (and even nuclear warfare, like India vs. Pakistan).
b) It may rationalize scope neglect: people fail to recognize the impact of interventions in other cultures, either because they think their lives worth less, or they think progress is unachievable (“what’s the point of saving a child from malaria, if she’ll starve?”). (this is a falsifiable claim, but I couldn’t find anyone testing it)
c) It raises suspicion over other areas. For instance, I think the past association between eugenics and racism may pose an obstacle to discuss improving humanity’s long-term prospects through genetic engineering.