Surrender in Dixie

Since 1918, the highest-flying flag atop the capitol dome on Montgomery's Goat Hill has been the Alabama state flag. Since 1961, the Confederate battle flag has usually flown below it. The Stars and Stripes? On a separate flagpole, lower than the other two. Blacks have long protested this positioning as a symbol of resistance to integration.

It was only appropriate, then, that Old Glory last week was finally elevated to its rightful position by another symbol of Dixie's resistance. With no fanfare, Governor George Wallace ordered the Stars and Stripes placed atop the capitol dome flagpole, with the Alabama banner beneath it and the Confederate standard in the lowest position. The action, said State Archivist Milo Howard, was "a gesture of friendliness to 25% to 30% of our population."

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