Abe Lathan has been working hard for Luther Bolick for forty years. He began working for Luther’s father when he was twenty, and when the man died, Abe continued working for his son. As Abe is shucking corn, however, Luther appears and announces that the Lathans must move away. He says he can’t afford to have older people in his employ, but Abe begs him to let him and his family stay. Abe and his wife are old, but they work hard as anyone else. If they are removed from Luther’s farm, they won’t be able to find employment anywhere else. Abe also reasons that he has raised three sons to adulthood who have contributed greatly to the farm. When Luther tries to end the conversation and walk away, Abe follows him, pleading that the only time he ever tried to negotiate the crops’ shares is now thirty years in the past. Still, Luther walks away and refuses to listen to Abe.

The next day, as Abe and his wife are huddled in their small house in the winter cold, two white men arrive on their front step. One of them, a police officer, notifies Abe that he has been evicted and charged with threatening bodily harm. Confused, Abe asks the men to allow him to fetch Luther to clear the situation up, but the police officer says that Luther ordered the charges to be filed. He and the other man, a truck driver, begin loading all the Lathans’ furniture into a truck, then usher Abe and his wife out of the house. Abe continues pleading his case with the men, telling them he has been loyally working for Luther for decades and has never once threatened him. The police officer sympathizes with him, but considers his duty to the court orders more important. The two men deposit Mrs. Lathan at a housing complex for African Americans, then take Abe to the local jail.

On Saturday, Abe’s oldest son Henry presents Abe’s case to Ramsey Clark, an attorney. Despite his best efforts, Clark still turns Henry away. He rudely and offensively argues that African American clients have no money to pay him with and that taking on the case might label him as a lawyer for the African American community. He snaps at Henry to leave, and Henry has no choice but to visit his father at the jail and explain his circumstances. He tells Abe he has been to three lawyers and that none of them have agreed to help. They’ve all told him that Abe’s case would result in incarceration anyway. When Abe asks his son why, Henry replies that it’s because they are people of color. Soon, the jailer leads Henry away. He doesn’t look back at his father.