Excerpts   

"BECAUSE THE TABERNACLE is an island, and a refuge, it is often hard to accept that racial tensions lie just beneath the surface, vulnerable to exposure from the slightest scratch. But the island is in the world, and in the world there is no refuge."
--Kevin Sack's June 4 curtain raiser, "Shared Prayers, Mixed Blessings"

THEY WERE ALSO PARTNERS--'battle buddies,' in military parlance--in running Fourth Platoon, though Sergeant Williams, as platoon sergeant, was technically Sergeant Feyer's supervisor. Their metal desks sat three feet apart. They even lived on the same street, less than 200 yards from each other.
"But neither had ever set foot in the other's house. Sergeant Williams had a simple explanation: ŒWe don't have anything in common. We're just different.' "
--Steven A. Holmes' June 7 story, "Which Man's Army"

MEMBERS OF A POLICE team spend enormous amounts of time together. They discuss all forms of personal minutiae, including their dental work, their sleeping problems, whether they're having regular bowel movements and which relatives they're not getting along with.
"They do not discuss race. They did not discuss Diallo. "And yet when the verdict came down, from interviewing them separately it was clear that each group knew how the other felt. Neither could afford to offend the other; light and dark, they needed each other to get home safely at day's end.
"And so, the eerie silence after the verdict."
--Michael Winerip's July 9 story, "Why Harlem Drug Cops Don't Talk About Race."