My understanding is that the criminal justice system plays a central role in institutional racism in the United States. For example, it is a significant contributor to the racial unemployment gap:
Mass incarceration plays a significant role in the lower labor force participation rate for African American men. African Americans are more likely to be incarcerated following an arrest than are white Americans, and formerly incarcerated individuals of all races experience difficulties in gaining employment. In spite of years of widespread agreement among researchers that incarceration is a profound factor in employment outcomes, employment statistics still do not gather data on incarceration, erasing a key structural factor. (Ajilore 2020)
Thus, criminal justice reform seems like an effective, targeted way to break the cycle.
If your primary target is specifically institutional racism in developed countries, then I agree, which is why I suggested it.
Iām not sure if thatās 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, Iād guess you can do better elsewhere, in particular in the developing world.
Iād 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 (āwhatās the point of saving a child from malaria, if sheāll starve?ā). (this is a falsifiable claim, but I couldnāt 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 humanityās long-term prospects through genetic engineering.
My understanding is that the criminal justice system plays a central role in institutional racism in the United States. For example, it is a significant contributor to the racial unemployment gap:
Thus, criminal justice reform seems like an effective, targeted way to break the cycle.
If your primary target is specifically institutional racism in developed countries, then I agree, which is why I suggested it.
Iām not sure if thatās 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, Iād guess you can do better elsewhere, in particular in the developing world.
Iād 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 (āwhatās the point of saving a child from malaria, if sheāll starve?ā). (this is a falsifiable claim, but I couldnāt 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 humanityās long-term prospects through genetic engineering.