"Why don't you niggers like being called niggers?" the policeman asked. "You call yourselves that, don't you?" The response shot back: "Shut up, you blue honky." The policeman flushed with anger and resentment. But instead of lashing out with a fist or a night stick, he sat and nodded when asked: "Now do you understand?"
The thrust and counterthrust took place at one of a series of group-therapy sessions designed to promote understanding between Houston's police and Negroes. The six-week programs have been going on since last September. On each of six consecutive Fri days,...