Three years after the US Supreme Court decision in favor of desegregation, four courageous young people change Charlotte forever when they become the first black students to enroll in all-white schools. The harassment Dorothy Counts endures leads her to leave Harding High School a few days later.

The national publicity surrounding her ordeal alarms the white business community who then work to avoid such events. The other three students finish the year. Gus Roberts was the only among them to graduate from the school he desegregates.