post shared on social media He claims that Hispanic settlers were driven off the land during the US government’s Manhattan Project, a project to create a nuclear test site in New Mexico.
29 Pueblo and Hispano farmers, shepherds and ranchers were forced to leave their land after the government condemned the construction of Los Alamos. However, we find no evidence that they took less than 24 hours to do so. Compensation was paid to them, but the amount was far below that of neighboring white landowners.
— Stephen Schwartz (@AtomicAnalyst) July 25, 2023
Verdict: Truth
The claim is correct. Before the Manhattan Project, the area was inhabited by homesteaders.
Fact check:
Christopher Nolan’s historical thriller “Oppenheimer” opened over the weekend and was a huge box office success, earning $235.5 million in the United States and Canada. new york times report. But a meme about the film has sparked criticism from Japan, which dropped two nuclear weapons in World War II, media outlets say. bloomberg.
The Twitter post claims that Hispanic families were moved from Los Alamos to create a testing ground for the Manhattan Project. This post was a response to another post with similar allegations, but we were unable to verify all the details of the original post.
“29 Pueblo and Hispano farmers, shepherds and ranchers have been forced to leave their land as the government condemned the construction of Los Alamos,” the tweet read. “But I find no evidence that they had less than 24 hours to do so. They were compensated, but the rate was much lower than that of neighboring white landowners.”
The claim that Hispanic homesteaders lived in the area that served as the project’s laboratory is accurate. In 2001, new york times José Gonzalez and his family reported on a lawsuit against the federal government seeking compensation for land taken to build the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The Times reported that of the 54,000 acres required for the site, about 8,900 were privately owned by Hispanics, with the local Anchor Ranch receiving $43 per acre, while Hispanics received only $7 per acre. Reported not received.
article from National Park Service A report detailing the construction of the Los Alamos National Laboratory states that the land was acquired by the military in 1942, at which time the Pajarito Plateau was still inhabited by 12 homesteads. Some were forced off the premises at gunpoint or had their payments reduced, the article said.
of Nuclear Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving Manhattan Project history, shared the story of Rosario Martinez Fiorillo, who grew up in New Mexico during the Manhattan Project era. In an interview, she said she was held at gunpoint by the government and had her family removed from her home.
parliament passed Specification Allocated $10 million in 2004 Compensation of the value of the land to the heirs of the subsistence farmers. Congress denied illegally acquiring the land, but acknowledged that many Hispano homesteaders had no legal representation and were paid much lower wages than other homesteaders in the area. rice field. (Related: Is a viral video showing Nova Kakhovka Dam exploding?)
Check Your Fact reached out to Kai Byrd, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of atomic bomb father J. Robert Oppenheimer, American Prometheus, for comment on the Los Alamos Homesteader. I also contacted the Nuclear Heritage Foundation. We will update this article if we receive a response.
This isn’t the first time false information has been shared online. Check Your Fact recently debunked claims that Garth Brooks canceled a Las Vegas show following backlash over serving Bud Light at his own bar.
