Ga. lawmakers are set to debate the fate of the state flag. Edwin Allen Trapp died in a vain defense of the Old. Allen M. Trapp Jr. said the other day, his voice a baritone mixture of pride and melancholy as he spoke of the Battle of Stones River, and of his Confederate heritage. I can trace 11 on my father's side who served. Three came home.
Few issues divide Southerners as sharply as the flag question.
Some, including many African Americans, complain that the red square with its blue bands of stars is a symbol of hatred and inequality. Others see it as an innocuous relic from the distant past. Still others regard it as a precious symbol of Southern heritage, to be vigorously defended. To say so is intellectually dishonest, it's morally reprehensible . . . The Georgia proposal is part of a reexamination of the issue by a number of states that have flown the Confederate flag or that have banners incorporating its motifs.