This report is based on the Community Relations Team of the Southern Regional Council's extensive study of desegregation and racial conflict in Hickory North Carolina's city schools. The views of recognized black and white leaders of the community are presented. Basically, the study indicates that initial desegregation took place in Hickory despite a lack of planning or agreed upon procedures of preparing the overall community, faculty, students, and parents. During the crucial stages of implementing the first court order, the Hickory School System was crippled by ineffective leadership, by the fact that no previous planning had taken place within the city system, and the failure of the North Carolina Office of Public Instruction to provide desegregation assistance to local systems. The Hickory School System dealt, for the most part, with the physical aspects of desegregation, and failed to develop any comprehensive plan for preparing those who were to be affected directly by the impending changes. Several conclusions are offered in the report: (1) the Hickory school system lacked a trained faculty and a curriculum in race relations, (2) the public school personnel, the students, and the citizens of Hickory lacked an understanding of the civil rights struggle, (3) Hickory hired only nine black teachers between 1966 and 1972 compared to 181 white teachers, (4) the religious, recreational, and planning agencies and institutions of Hickory failed to adequately support school segregation with programs which provide interracial participation for the community, and (5) there was too little opportunity for widespread community participation in and support of the public schools. (Author/AM)