In an idyllic Wisconsin resort town, Douglas and his mother, who are white, attend the "Big Black and White Game," a baseball match between their town's Black and white residents. After the game, both sides plan on eating and drinking together at the Cake Walk Jamboree. Disparities between the two teams become apparent even before they take the field — the Black players run like the wind, rejoicing in their own vivacity, but their white opponents exude awkward tension. Anger amongst the white folk begins to stir in the crowd. The game throws that contrast into sharp relief. The Black team scores eleven runs in just five innings, and by the time the white players take the field in the bottom of the fifth, both they and their families in the crowd have begun to fume. The white team's next batter, Jimmie Cosner, brings those tensions to a head when he hits a pop-up, jumps toward first base, and drives his cleats into the Black player Big Poe's ankle. Flinging racial slurs at his victim, Jimmie insists to the umpire that he reached the base on time and should stay on the field. Big Poe quietly backs him, and the umpire assents. Emboldened, Jimmie taunts Long Johnson, the Black team's pitcher, mercilessly. When he tries to steal second base, Johnson throws the ball straight to Big Poe, who whips it toward Jimmie's head and floors him. After a moment of shock, chaos erupts. The teams and their fans flood the field, tearing at each other and howling for blood. Before the situation can worsen, Douglas and his mother run home as fast as they can. Hours later, Douglas hears faint strains of music through his window, and his curiosity gets the better of him. Upon sneaking outside, he discovers that despite the day's violence, the Jamboree has gone on. But nowhere, among all of the festivities, can he find a single white person. They have all stayed home.