Alabama has for years been regarded as a symbol of the old South by many people who haven't been there. For old South, read backward, poor, and racist. A recent action taken by new Gov. Jim Folsom proves that, to the contrary, Alabama is leading where much of the South fears to tread.
Gov. Folsom has banned the flying of the Confederate battle flag over the dome of the state capitol. It has been replaced by the state flag and the Stars and Stripes.
He erred, however, in ordering that the battle flag be flown in front of the First White House of the Confederacy across the street from the state capitol. The Confederate capital had moved to Richmond, Va., before the battle flag was adopted.
That glitch aside, removal of the flag from atop the state capitol made an important statement to the people of Alabama and to the country at large. While the Georgia legislature failed to exhibit sufficient backbone to support Gov. Zell Miller's attempt to remove the battle flag from the state flag; while the battle flag remains part of the Mississippi state flag, and South Carolina still flies it over its state capitol, Alabama has made a dramatic break with the past.
While respectful of history, Gov. Folsom is saying to the country that Alabama is progressive, truly part of the New South-exemplified by the bustling financial center of Birmingham, Ala. The battle flag should be seen for what it is-a part of this nation's history and nothing more. As a flag in contemporary life it symbolized bigotry, racism, and intolerance. Its use is offensive to many people.
Other southern sates that fly the Confederate banner over state facilities or buildings, or incorporate it in their state flag, should follow Alabama's example and look forward, not backwards.