The City: Detroit's Ditto

Most Negro leaders in recent years have been stigmatized as either Uncle Toms or fire-eating militants. As a result, there are few who can work in the upper echelons of white society while retaining their independence and the respect of the blacks on the street. One black leader who has succeeded in that ambivalent role is Frank Ditto, 39, a community organizer of the East Side ghetto of Detroit's inner city.

The burly, brooding Ditto, who prowls the streets in a dashiki, arouses fear or hatred in many whites. Detroit's police and school officials see him as an ir...