American Notes SYMBOLS

More than a century after the Civil War, the rebel battle flag still waves -- beneath the Stars and Stripes -- at Alabama's state capitol in Montgomery. For black Alabamans, however, that bit of pre-emancipation nostalgia is not an endearing sight. Last week, Representative Thomas Reed led 13 other black legislators in an attempt to scale the capitol dome and strike the rebel colors. Before a crowd of 2,000, some shouting "Nigger go home!," state troopers arrested the group for trespass. Later, the Alabama house, voting 67 to 17 along racial lines, defeated a measure to remove the flag.

Efforts to ban the same banner from the statehouses of South Carolina, Mississippi and Georgia have also failed. But the fight goes on. Says Earl Shinhoster, regional director of the N.A.A.C.P.: "The increased waving of that flag, of singing Dixie and the rise in racial hate groups mean it is time to take a concerted effort to remove these symbols."