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A Civil Injustice

IN FOCUS

F

lying the Confederate battle
flag from public buildings is a
public affront. Our freedoms
protect it in a private setting,
but the Rebel battle colors have no place
in a public venue.
A month ago, when we honored Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy of racial
and ethnic tolerance, the simmering dis-
pute over this flag, symbolic of all that is
wrong about racism and slavery, flared.
The flag is as much a symbol of disdain
toward blacks as the Nazi swastika is
toward Jews.
As Americans marked Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. Day, the Rev. Jesse Jack-
son called for an economic boycott in
Georgia unless elements of the Confeder-
ate battle flag were removed from the
state's flag. Such a boycott, while seem-
ingly appealing, would hurt many Geor-
gians who do condemn the battle flag's
abhorrent message.
In South Carolina, passions have been
inflamed by a war of words over the state-
house display of the actual battle flag
alongside the modern state flag and the
American flag. It's an issue in tomorrow's
presidential preference primary. Wisely,
South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges has
proposed limiting public display of the

Related story: page 24

battle flag to a museum memorial to
Southern soldiers elsewhere on the capital
grounds.
We acknowledge the meaning and his-
tory attached to the Confederate battle
flag for many people of goodwill in the
South. But that doesn't alter the fact that
the flag is now an emblem for hatred,
intolerance and exclusivity. In fact, Geor-
gia incorporated elements of it as a mili-
tant response to desegregation in the
1950s (Mississippi did so in the 1890s,
South Carolina in 1962).
The affront this symbol has become
overshadows those who consider it a his-
toric reflection of Southern heritage and
sacrifices. It's a museum relic, nothing
more.
The official flags of Georgia, South
Carolina and other states should make all
citizens proud. Can you imagine if Ger-
many decided to fly a flag with a swastika
over the capital in Berlin?
The Rebel battle colors fly stridently
when above a public building in America.
In that scenario, they dispense visual
shards of polarization and hatred under
the guise of public acceptance.

❑

KLEZ BAND

MICHIGAN

Up With Music

Alan Posner, 13, of West Bloomfield and Jason Nunez, 13, of Southfield
represent Temple Beth El's Kids Klez Band on Feb. 6 at the Bloomfield
Township synagogue's 12th annual party-planning showcase.

Balancing Austria

ffective foreign policy often means mak-
ing the best of bad situations. That is a
particularly fitting description of the
dilemma facing policymakers in Washing-
ton as they deal with Austria, where a far-right,
xenophobic party is now a major part of the ruling
coalition.
Joerg Haider, the leader of the misnamed Free-
dom Party, may be no Adolf Hider, as several
prominent Jewish leaders correctly say. But the Clin-
ton administration is right to treat the ascension of
as a
his party — by popular vote, not putsch
grave matter of national interest.
Finding the right combination of policies to serve
U.S. interests — indeed, the interests of democra-
cies everywhere — will require patience and sophis-
tication. Firm opposition to nativist, xenophobic
movements in a region that knows too well the hor-
rific consequences when such movements spiral out
of control should be a consistent element of U.S.
policy in Austria.
We applaud the European nations that have
downgraded their relations with Austria; we urge
them to join Washington in a consistent, balanced
policy aimed at easing Austria toward a more

—

Related story: page 29

responsible path. But it would be a mistake to chas-
tise Austrian voters and then go back to diplomatic
business as usual, a signal that would only encourage

It would be a mistake
to chastise and then go
back to business as
usual.

other far-right movements in Europe. It would also
be a mistake to lash out with harsh sanctions, boy-
cotts and the kind of diplomatic isolation that
would just inflame the resentments that led to the
Freedom Party's electoral success.
Haider's apparent admiration for some elements

of Nazi Germany is deeply disturbing, but his party
has not preached violence, or the extermination of a
people. Haider is a demagogue, but he has not
attempted to subvert Austrian democracy. As time
goes on, that doesn't mean he won't, but it does
mean that carefully calibrated international pressure
and wise policy can moderate his behavior, as well as
protect Austrian democracy.
Washington should work more actively with Aus-
trian leaders who already have demonstrated a solid
commitment to respecting both basic democratic
institutions and human rights. Leaders here should
mobilize resources — including the considerable
ones of the Jewish community — to help impress
upon Austrians the dangers of this kind of move-
ment. And the administration in Washington
should be prepared to change policy decisively if
Haider and his fellow xenophobes prove the pes-
simists right.
There must be no murkiness in our message; the
United States cannot tolerate any turn away from
democratic principles in Europe. The new Austrian
government must know from the outset that any
shift to repression will result in much stronger inter-
national pressure. ❑

AyIN

2/18
2000

35

