There
was no school today in Majuro. It
is “Nuclear Victims & Survivor’s Day.” It is a really challenging day to be an American in
Majuro. It makes you think about
the actions that your country has taken and how it commands you to think and
respond in some way. As an
American and a student of history I realize all too well that the actions of
our government in foreign affairs is often quite immoral and wrong. In the case of the Marshall Islands,
the United States has tested 67 nuclear devices in this beautiful atoll nation,
which have poisoned no less than 4 atolls making them uninhabitable and unable
to produce food, and have led directly to an unprecedented high rate of cancers
among the population. Sadly, the
American government denies that its actions have led to this alarmingly high
cancer rate, but that’s what our government typically does.
The
most infamous case of removing a people from their Atoll for testing was the
case of the Bikini people. In 1946
the American military appealed to this group of hunter and gatherer people with
little or no knowledge of the modern world to leave their homes for, “The Good
of Mankind.” The US Generals took
advantage of the Bikinian ignorance and their Christian faith by telling them
that, “God would thank them for their sacrifice… and that someday soon you will
be able to return to Bikini.”
Fast
forward to 2013 and the Bikini people are a Diaspora spread throughout Oceania
and the United States and are still not allowed back on Bikini because of the
contamination. In 1954 the United
States “Bravo” bomb was tested in the lagoon of the Bikini Atoll. This bomb was 1000 times more powerful
than the bomb dropped over Hiroshima in 1945 that precipitated the end of
WW2. This Bravo test actually
incinerated 3 of the islands in the Bikini Atoll. This tiny, quiet and peaceful Atoll and its people were
contaminated with the 2nd largest weapon ever used in human history,
and for what?
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During
the Cold War the United States was willing to do almost anything to “beat” the
USSR, and its actions at Bikini demonstrate this. One US general was quoted as saying, “There’s only 9000
people there, who cares?” in reference to the testing in the Marshalls. I wonder if this general would’ve been
so callous in his comments if he were talking about a small town of 9000 people
in rural America? I think we all
know the answer to that one. Why
is it that American lives seem to be worth more to American leaders than people
of other nations? When will we
live up to the stated belief that, “All people are created equal.” There was a fantastic award winning
documentary entitled Radio Bikini
that was made in the late 1980’s about the testing and the contamination that
followed and a equally fantastic book entitled For the Good of Mankind
that should be mandatory reading for all Americans. I highly recommend both!
These
tests have had many after affects other than destroying numerous islands and spreading
cancer around the Marshalls. It
has also transformed many Marshallese into refugees from their native atolls
and subsequently brought a cash society and modern life to a series of atolls
that can barely be seen on a map.
I’m sure if you asked most Marshallese today (especially the wealthy
ones), they wouldn’t want to give up basketball, flat bed trucks, hip hop and
the internet; but the most successful transformations to a modern society
happen organically and over time, they are not forced by an outside nation’s
actions.
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| A view from Bikini Island of the Bomb |
How
ought Americans feel about this?
How should Americans react?
I am afraid that many wouldn’t care. We have already seen comments from Tea Partiers about
“cutting all foreign aid,” but if we did that we would be leaving a people that
our actions changed hanging out to dry.
The Bikini people have now been recipients of 10’s of millions of
dollars in reparations from the United States government, but one big reward
payment that they won in a makeshift International mediation court has not yet
been paid. This money pays for development
of the islands the Bikini people were moved to and for Bikini children to go to
school. Many now to move to more modern and developed places like
Oregon or California, but some of the older and recently deceased Bikinian
leaders worry that this will only result in the elimination of what it used to
mean to be a Bikinian. Is the ease
of a modern life worth more than the destruction of a culture and people that
have lasted independently for 1000’s of years?
These questions are difficult if not impossible to answer. But one thing is for certain; we should never stop the reparations and support we give to the Bikini people and the Marshall Islands. Colin Powell had a policy that he followed of, “if you break it, you bought it.” Our actions have broken what was a proud and traditional society and until they get back on their feet and fully figure out what it means to be Marshallese in the modern world, we are morally obligated to assist them.
(Here is a great poem by a Marshallese poet, please watch!)
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