Like many of you, we at GCRI are appalled by the tragic killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor over the past few months. We are awed by the massive response to these events in the US and around the world, and we are hopeful about their potential to spur meaningful change to address long-standing issues caused by racism in the US and other countries. This is a rare moment in history, and so we feel compelled to comment in our capacity as citizens and scholars.
At first glance, racism and global catastrophic risk may seem like distinct, unrelated issues. Racism may be seen as harming particular individuals like Arbery, Floyd, and Taylor, while global catastrophic risk exclusively concerns harms at the global scale. Additionally, the communities of people working on the two issues tend not to overlap much.
Upon closer inspection, there are important links between problems of racism and global catastrophic risk. First of all, racism is not just a small-scale issue—it can be pervasive across societies and even affect global catastrophic risk. It can be a driver of major warfare, as was the case with World War II. It can also diminish society’s capacity to withstand global catastrophes, as evidenced by the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately harmed communities of color in the United States. (See also the GCRI Statement on the COVID-19 Pandemic.)
Furthermore, concern about racism and global catastrophic risk have some similarities in their moral foundations. Concern about both can be traced, at least in part, to the moral principle of equality—the idea that, as the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments puts it, “all men and women are created equal.” Racism is clearly a basic failure to live up to the moral principle of equality, which is why it is important to say that Black lives matter. A global catastrophe could harm everyone around the world and members of future generations, which would be a massive loss especially if everyone is valued equally.
Finally, racism can impede efforts to address global catastrophic risk. Racism can undermine the cooperation and coordination needed for national and international policy on global catastrophic risk. It can also prevent talented people from contributing to the field of global catastrophic risk. Unfortunately, people of color are underrepresented in the field; the burdens of racism may be one reason why. Marine biologist Ayana Elizabeth Johnson recently wrote that racism distracts her and other people of color from work on climate change, despite them being more concerned on average about climate change than white people.
We at GCRI are acutely aware of the absence of racial diversity in our own team. We are trying to address this by explicitly welcoming people from underrepresented demographic groups in our Advising and Collaboration Program, which helps new people get involved in the field. We encourage anyone interested in this to reach out to us. Though this is a painful moment for many around the world, this is also a chance to correct past wrongs and create a better society for the future. We are eager to do our part to help.
Sincerely,
Seth Baum, Executive Director
Robert de Neufville, Director of Communications
Tony Barrett, Director of Research
McKenna Fitzgerald, Project Manager and Research Assistant
Interested individuals are encouraged to contact GCRI Director of Communications Mr. Robert de Neufville at robert [at] gcrinstitute.org.
Anti-racism rally in Vancouver, 31 May 2020, photo credit: GoToVan under a CC BY 2.0 license