The Bikinians’ relocation was executed hastily and catastrophically planned

Evidence

On March 7, 1946, less than one month after posing its question, the Navy completed the removal of the Bikinians to the Rongerik Atoll, elsewhere in the Marshall Islands. Within months it became clear that the move to Rongerik had been a disastrously planned mistake, leaving the Bikinians in dire conditions. The New York Times wrote in classically ethnocentric language that the Bikinians “will probably be repatriated if they insist on it, though the United States military authorities say they can’t see why they should want to: Bikini and Rongerik look as alike as two Idaho potatoes.” — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 192

Categorization

• CANDY: The New York Times quote about Bikini and Rongerik looking ‘as alike as two Idaho potatoes’ is a memorable, darkly comic period artifact.