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An Associated Press review of historical documents and records shows American authorities permitted the official brothel system to operate despite internal reports that women were being coerced into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.