Japan's abhorrent practice of enslaving women to provide sex for its troops in World War II has a little-known sequel: After its surrender -- with tacit approval from the U.S. occupation authorities -- Japan set up a similar "comfort women" system for American GIs.

An Associated Press review of historical documents and records shows American authorities permitted the official brothel system to operate despite internal reports that women were being coerced into prostitution. The Americans also had full knowledge by then of Japan's atrocious treatment of women in countries across Asia that it conquered during the war.

Tens of thousands of women were employed to provide cheap sex to U.S. troops until the spring of 1946, when Gen. Douglas MacArthur shut the brothels down.

The documents show the brothels were rushed into operation as American forces poured into Japan beginning in August 1945.

Lessons on the Centennial of the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906

Unearthed remains found at an MTA excavation site shed light on a time rife with anti-Chinese bias

By David Pierson
©2006 Los Angeles Times
March 15, 2006

They could not marry, they could not own property, and they performed the most undesirable jobs: ditch diggers, canal builders, house boys. They were banned from most shops and public institutions and were the target of racist violence that went unpunished.

Los Angeles was home to an estimated 10,000 Chinese in the late 19th century — almost all men who came to America to work on the railroads and ended up in desperate straits, crowded into a filthy Chinese ghetto near what is now Union Station.

A recent discovery by a new generation of railway workers building the extension of the Gold Line commuter rail line through Boyle Heights has unearthed this dark but largely forgotten period in Los Angeles history.

The Racial Formation of Asian Americans, 1852-1965

The U.S. immigration reform of 1965 produced a tremendous influx of immigrants and refugees from Asia and Latin America that has dramatically altered U.S. race relations. Latinos now outnumber African Americans. It is clearer than ever that race relations in the United States are not limited to the central black/white axis. In fact this has always been true: Indian wars were central to the history of this country since its origins and race relations in the West have always centered on the interactions between whites and natives, Mexicans, and Asians. The “new thinking” about race relations as multipolar is overdue.

However, one cannot simply replace the black/white model with one that merely adds other groups. The reason is that other groups of color have faced discrimination that is quite different both in form and content than that which has characterized black/white relations. The history of many peoples and regions, as well as distinct issues of nationality oppression—U.S. settler colonialism, Indian wars, U.S. foreign relations and foreign policy, immigration, citizenship, the U.S.-Mexico War, language, reservations, treaties, sovereignty issues, etc.—must be analyzed and woven into a considerably more complicated new framework.

In this light, Asian-American history is important because it was precedent-setting in the racialization of nationality and the incorporation of nationality into U.S. race relations. The racial formation of Asian Americans was a key moment in defining the color line among immigrants, extending whiteness to European immigrants, and targeting non-white immigrants for racial oppression. Thus nativism was largely overshadowed by white nativism, and it became an important new form of racism.

Hawaii soldiers of Japanese descent were used as bait for attack dogs during World War II because it was believed that the soldiers smelled like the enemy. It's a story that the U.S. military won't admit to because there are no official records of it.

Many are already aware of the historical accounts of Japanese-American families sent to internment camps and losing their property shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack. When some of the men became soldiers of the famed 100th Battalion, 25 were picked to go on a secret mission.

Each year on August 6, the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima is accompanied by a mass reflection on atomic warfare. This year, in preparation for the 60th anniversary of these tragic events, HNN has put together a large selection of pieces discussing whether the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima was a wise and necessary decision. Already Leo Maley III and Uday Mohan’s article, in particular, and that of Herbert Bix have sparked considerable discussion. I do not wish, by any means, to discount debate over the morality of the bombing of Hiroshima or the very real issues involved in that tragic event. However, this controversy has a paradoxical effect of cutting off debate on the atomic bomb and obscuring a vital issue—namely, the bombing of Nagasaki.

QUANG NGAI, Vietnam - For the 10 elderly farmers in the rice paddy, there was nowhere to hide.

The river stretched along one side, mountains on the other.

Approaching quickly in between were the soldiers - an elite U.S. Army unit known as Tiger Force.

Though the farmers were not carrying weapons, it didn't matter: No one was safe when the special force arrived on July 28, 1967.

No one.

With bullets flying, the farmers - slowed by the thick, green plants and muck - dropped one by one to the ground.

Within minutes, it was over. Four were dead, others wounded. Some survived by lying motionless in the mud.

Four soldiers later recalled the assault.

"We knew the farmers were not armed to begin with," one said, "but we shot them anyway."

LAHAINA, Hawaii – A service to honor those who served their country gave comfort Saturday to their loved ones.

“I like this,” said Mitsue Yamamoto, following the West Maui AJA Veterans Club Memorial Day Service.

Yamamoto is the widow of Masayuki Bo Yamamoto, who served with the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II. Her husband died three years ago, and his picture and name were added to a wall of photos hung at the Veterans Memorial Hall on Fleming Road in Lahaina.

In recent years, I've heard fellow Asian Americans of many different ethnicities say they don't prefer the term "Asian American" for various reasons, the most common being: the particular Asian ethnicity to which they belong doesn't seem to be included in discussions about so-called Asian-American issues; the term Asian American ghettoizes their existence, which they feel is inferior to them, given their wealth; and they are often reminded of their foreign-born status, so they don't feel they identify with being American.

Fear and loathing towards Asians, towards people of Indian origin, towards Hindus -- this is a substratum of Indian American or Asian American history that has yet to find its way into American classrooms.

I am, of course, referring to a period in American history when a Hindu, or any person of Asian origin in America, was condemned as an undesirable alien, as a lesser breed, or a benighted heathen.

Six decades before Guantanamo, Fred Korematsu refused to go quietly when the government tried to put him in a prison camp because of his race

By Gary Kamiya
©2004 Salon.com
June 29, 2004

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "enemy combatants" -- prisoners seized in the "war on terror" who the Bush administration argued had no legal recourse -- have the right to challenge their detention in American courts. Writing for the majority, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote, "A state of war is not a blank check for the President when it comes to the rights of the Nation's citizens."

Somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area, a soft-spoken man named Fred Korematsu is smiling.

Americans assume that their civil rights are sacrosanct, that civic tradition and the Constitution are a sure bulwark against the state's power to treat them without due process. They're wrong. Civil rights are only as strong as the nation's commitment to defending them. And the grim truth is that during wartime, that commitment often fails -- especially when the gasoline of racism is poured onto the flames of fear.

Last night’s forum exploring the connections between Japanese internment and post-Sept. 11 America, blended both artistic and intellectual elements, including dance and spoken word in addition to speakers.

“The suspension of civil rights does not only concern certain groups — it threatens all of us,” said Cindy Ng, director of the Asian American Activities Center. “The speakers raised important issues, and our hope is that this is just the beginning. We cannot be silent, but rather, we have to speak out and prevent these detentions from happening again.”

80 year-old Kiku Funabiki, labeled as an “ex-con” by the government during World War II because she was Japanese, said that she was inspired by the survivors of the war who spoke out in the 1980s.

The immigrant experience of Asian women and the their 'paper sons' is laid bare in this scholarly but interesting book

After the notorious Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882, Chinese laborers and their families were barred from entry as immigrants into the US. The act was finally repealed in 1943, but between these years only "merchants" from China and their relatives were officially permitted entry. Their port of entry was usually San Francisco, and to establish their credentials, lengthy interviews took place. Those waiting for clearance were kept on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay.

Webster defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial difference produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. While racism has existed in some form or another, probably its worst manifestation has had been seen in the history of Europe and the Americas.

Truly, the history of Western civilization is littered with the corpses of the ‘other’ peoples. The blueprints for justifications of murder, genocide, annexation, plunder and colonization - all can be found in the Bible [1] and in the statements of its interpreters, Church fathers and leaders, and those who came later as philosophers – believing Christians and non-believing atheists, let alone the slave-traders and –masters, colonizers and warmongers.[2] Strictly speaking if there ever were just one factor around which all of them agreed to it was in their basic belief about the superiority of their white European race.

For decades, the tens of thousands of Japanese-Americans who were sent to internment camps in the wake of Pearl Harbor spoke little of their traumatic World War II experience.

The internment of 120,000 Issei and Nisei -- Japanese immigrants and their American-born offspring -- in 10 wartime camps was the end product of years of government-sanctioned racism. Many lost everything they had slowly accumulated during years of grinding poverty.

In the war's aftermath, they resolved to quietly get on with their lives. Those interned lived the refrain they had adopted in the camps to rationalize their experience -- shi-kata-nai or "can't help it."

"No one talked about those things, nor did they teach them in schools," said Diane Tanaka, 37, of Torrance, a fourth generation Japanese-American. "They didn't think about what happened to them. They didn't tell anybody. It was shameful."

A Critique of Michelle Malkin's "In Defense of Internment", Part Two

By Greg Robinson
Special to ModelMinority.com
August 8, 2004

Several years ago, I wrote a book on the decisions behind the mass removal and confinement of the Japanese Americans, commonly, if inaccurately, known as the internment, and in particular the role of President Franklin Roosevelt. I based it on several years of research in a number of archives around the country. The book was published under the title By Order of the President: FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans (Harvard University Press, 2001). In the time since, I have done further research in this area, which has confirmed me in my conclusions. Since the book was published, I have read a number of critiques by various defenders of Executive Order 9066, especially by bloggers, who seem to constitute a large and vocal group. I have preferred to let the work speak for itself, and I have never before responded to any critics, even when their comments distorted what I actually said. However, I feel that I must break my silence in the case of Michelle Malkin's book.

A Critique of Michelle Malkin's "In Defense of Internment," Part One

With the publication this week of Michelle Malkin's book "In Defense of Internment: The Case for 'Racial Profiling' in World War II and the War on Terror," it looks as though I'll have plenty to write about. About which to write, I mean. (How many times did my father drill into my head the rule that prepositions are incorrect words to end sentences with?-- I know, I know. "With" is a preposition. This was a joke.)

The last couple of days have been a bit of a whirlwind. It isn't every day--or every decade, frankly--that a high-profile person like Michelle (syndicated columnist, frequent FOX News contributor) elaborately defends the eviction and incarceration of some 70,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry from 1942 to 1945 as a military necessity. I got my blog started some 16 months ago when Rep. Howard Coble blunderingly offered his view on a radio program that Japanese Americans were justifiably rounded up because "it wasn't safe for them to be on the streets"--a long-discarded justification for the government's program that Michelle does not see fit to defend in terms (although she generally sticks up for Coble anyway--see page xvii of her book).

BEAUMONT, Texas - Bowing to criticism that the name Jap Road was insensitive, Jefferson County commissioners voted Monday to rename the nearly century-old rural thoroughfare.

Commissioners listened to about three hours of testimony from nearly four dozen people, alternating between those who wanted to retain the name and those who favored a change, before voting 4-1 to seek a new name.

County Judge Carl Griffith put two people who live along the 4.3-mile road in charge of a committee to come up with a new name and deliver their proposal to him by July 29.

It's hard to believe it has been nearly 15 years since Chinese army tanks rolled through a student protest in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The photograph of the lone man standing defiantly as military tanks crept toward him is ingrained on our collective memories. As the events progressed in China, one 17-year-old Chinese-American kid from Southern California was playing tennis in Paris and doing his best to give hope -- even just a little -- to Chinese citizens throughout the world.

The events in Beijing weighed heavily upon Michael Chang and his parents, Joe and Betty. After a day of tennis at the French Open they would return to their hotel and watch events unfold in China on CNN. "My heart was breaking," says Chang, 32. "I wanted to put a smile upon Chinese faces. Anything to take their minds off what was happening, was a good thing."

A useful article from an outstanding Web site that is, sadly, defunct.

By Rodney Jay C. Salinas
©2002 PoliticalCircus.com
May 2002

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month was created in 1992. The bill (H.R. 5572) was passed by the United States Congress and was signed into law by President George Bush. As a federal law, the month is observed throughout the country. Many federal departments and agencies host official observances during the month of May. Such events host important speakers, cultural performances, traditional foods, etc. Across the nation, local Asian Pacific American organizations host their own events to celebrate the month.

I remember with pain and sadness the fall of Saigon 25 years ago on April 30, 1975. The whole world watched as Americans and Vietnamese scrambled to get on the helicopters taking off from the roof of the U.S. embassy.

A quarter of a century ago the United States ended this tragedy rooted in miscalculation, hubris and arrogance. The doleful consequences are far from over. Demands for reparations will be made by the millions we hurt and by the collective conscience of the American people.

I would like to talk on behalf of all those veterans and say that several months ago in Detroit we had an investigation at which over 150 honorably discharged, and many very highly decorated, veterans testified to war crimes committed in Southeast Asia. These were not isolated incidents but crimes committed on a day-to-day basis with the full awareness of officers at all levels of command. It is impossible to describe to you exactly what did happen in Detroit - the emotions in the room and the feelings of the men who were reliving their experiences in Vietnam. They relived the absolute horror of what this country, in a sense, made them do.

They told stories that at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Ghengis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war and the normal and very particular ravaging which is done by the applied bombing power of this country.

By Jeff Gammage
©2004 Philadelphia Inquirer
February 15, 2004

When Jayson Choi arrives at work in the morning, he has but to glance up to behold the 16-story proof of Chinatown's ascent.

The gleaming white tower of the GrandView, a luxury condominium development, virtually sparkles in the low-rising sun.

The Choi Funeral Home lies within its considerable shadow. And Choi, 32, thinks that's fabulous.

The emergence of new, high-priced housing will be good for the whole neighborhood, he says. It's bound to attract new people to Philadelphia, which means more local spending, more jobs and more taxes paid to the city, which can use the money to enhance government services.

"This is what you're striving for," Choi says.

Others in Chinatown aren't nearly so excited.

Every year on Feb. 3, a simple ceremony is held on the grounds of Manila City Hall to commemorate what was formerly known as the "Liberation" of Manila in 1945. For people who lost loved ones during those terrible days -- victims of Japanese assault on unarmed civilians -- the end of the war was definitely not liberation but murder, rape, looting and arson. Carmen Guerrero Cruz Nakpil, former chairperson of the Manila Historical Commission, insisted on calling this bloody part of history the "Battle for Manila." The battle for the change of name for said event was a long uphill one, but last year Manila Mayor Lito Atienza took notice and finally renamed it "Battle for Manila." We hope the name remains, if only to open our memories further and see other facts not covered in our textbooks.

This morning another correction will be made on the historical records of Manila, this time touching on the start of the Philippine-American War in 1899. As far as I can remember, Philippine-American War broke out on a small stone bridge in Manila’s San Juan suburb formerly known as "Balsahan." There were simple commemorative programs held there annually, followed by a flower offering and picture-taking near the official bronze plaque laid on the bridge in 1940 by the Philippine Historical Committee, stating: "Here at 9:00 in the evening of February 4th, 1899, Private William Grayson of the First Nebraska Volunteers fired the shot that started the Filipino-American War."