in the heat of the night how was the ending of the movie hopeful

By the end of the movie Gillespie actually likes Tibbs. Gillespie (in the movie version) has even invited Tibbs to his house. Gillespie lets Tibbs wait for his train in the white section. He tells Tibbs to take care. I think the subtext is Gillespie has broken down some of his prejudice and opened up to someone that the ounce discriminated against.