The pursuit of science is something to be cherished. We should all strive for the advancement and pursuit of knowledge so that we better and more clearly understand the world and culture around us. However, as science is not an objective deity, but the culmination of human interactions and biases to create intellectual frameworks, it can be exploited for more nefarious purposes, distorting the data found and processes initiated. An especially insidious force that continues to lurk in our society is white supremacy culture, something we talked about a few weeks back. These ideas and beliefs have permeated American culture; the trajectory of this country post-World War II can be directly attributed to how science functioned and was controlled during the war. What I am talking about is the creation of the atomic bomb, one of the most significant events in all of human history. Mankind finally had the power to wipe out itself completely without a trace. It is imperative to understand not simply the power dynamics of a country now possessing nuclear weapons against those that didn’t, but also the ironic pacification; the bombs instead serving as a reminder that this is what we are capable of, and should be avoided at all costs. I am going to be describing elements of white supremacy culture that heightened tensions both domestic and abroad, to help explain the situation we are in today: one world where it looks as though the Cold War never ended, and nuclear war is always around the corner.
Sense of Urgency:
A major tenant of white supremacist culture is the constant sense of urgency, which according to Tema Okun “makes it difficult to take time to be inclusive, encourage democratic and/or thoughtful decision-making, to think long-term, to consider consequences”, and “frequently results in sacrificing potential allies for quick or highly visible results, for example sacrificing interests of communities of color in order to win victories for white people”. This can be clearly seen during the construction of nuclear weapons. In 1941, work on an atomic bomb began after it was theorized that Hitler was also planning his own weapons program. It was of utmost importance that the Nazis do not acquire and use a weapon of mass destruction, which is why many physicists who were pacifists and socialists who were opposed to nuclear weaponry began to help work on an atomic bomb in case of extreme emergency only. Working conditions were, let’s just say, “very stressful”, in that most scientists were working 24/7, getting in rest whenever they could to finish the job. Important physicists were picked up and moved to remote locations in the Southwestern US deserts, where tests could be conducted in private without prying eyes. After the Eastern Front looked like it was finally coming to an end, many hoped that weaponry construction would also start to dim, but it never stopped. Threat of Japanese warfare on the pacific prompted US officials to continue atomic bomb building at the same pace, never slow down. However, Japan was in a bad place, suffering from massive firebombing campaigns, years of constant struggle against the US and China, and soon eventually the Soviet Union, who promised to invade Japan 90 days after the surrender of Nazi Germany. There was no evidence any atomic weapons were being built there, yet the physicists in America had to keep at it. At this point, all the work that had been made on the bomb, Truman felt that it needed to be used to signal the United States’ strength in the world, much to the chagrin of the scientists demanding it not be used. There was no evidence that Japan was going to continue fighting for years like we all learned in school; almost every major military general agreed that an atomic bomb drop on Japan would not increase any deterrence of continuing the war. Two bombs were eventually dropped, instantly killing over a hundred thousand people and crippling the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Truman’s later remarks included calling some of the physicists, including brother of J.R. Oppenheiemer “crybabies”, and didn’t lose a wink of sleep after dropping the bomb.
The consequences of the bomb drops would eventually lead to a much more exacerbated Cold War than one could think of, causing the USSR to start developing their own nuclear weapons, even ones that ignite with hydrogen, rather than just nuclear fission. Many to this day defend the bombings, noting that the enemy could be just right around the corner again, leading to scapegoats such as Iraq, North Korea, Syria paving the way for even more militarization. It is my hope that we can begin to purge this idea of toxic urgency so that we are able to make decisions in a more democratic and careful way.
References:
Okun, T. (n.d.). White supremacy culture. Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https://www.dismantlingracism.org/uploads/4/3/5/7/43579015/okun_-_white_sup_culture.pdf
Selections (pages 50–65) from Cole, K. C. (2009). Something Incredibly Wonderful Happens: Frank Oppenheimer and the world he made up. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
