To the Point

So Long Southern Cross?

Is the Confederate battle flag a symbol of slavery and hatred or of the Old South's tradition of independence and states' rights? The contentious icon has been removed from the flags of Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Tomorrow, Mississippi voters decide whether to replace it with concentric circles of stars on a field of blue. We look at how the controversy reflects America's past and its present with an officer of the Mississippi House of Representatives, an attorney active in preserving the flag, an editor for the Southern Poverty Law Center, and two civil war writers. (Warren Olney returns.) Newsmaker: Escalating Violence in the Middle East - Israel has condemned the Palestinian mortar strike on an Israeli town today as a serious breach of the peace agreement. Amir Oren, of Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper, believes that Palestinians are trying to internationalize the situation to generate support for UN border patrols. Reporter's Notebook: Aftermath of the Cincinnati Riots - After a calm weekend, Cincinnati Mayor Charles Luken has ended a curfew imposed last week to end violence spawned by the shooting death of an unarmed African American teenager. John Maguire, one of the original Alabama freedom riders, says the mayor's call for a commission on racism must include long-range solutions as well as immediate goals.