Bob is a young Black man working as a newly promoted leaderman at a Los Angeles shipyard during World War II. He originally moved from Ohio to California hoping to secure a better life and a military deferment, but he finds himself constantly policed by a highly prejudiced society. His daily interactions are filled with microaggressions and overt hostility, leaving him existing in a constant state of fear and intense anger.

Alice is a prominent social worker and the daughter of a successful doctor. Her family wealth and light complexion afford her social privileges that Bob does not share, allowing her to occasionally pass for white in public spaces. She strongly believes that conforming to societal rules and maintaining a respectable image is the safest way to survive and prosper in America.

Madge is a working-class white woman from Texas employed at the Atlas Shipyard. She actively weaponizes her race, refusing to follow instructions from Black supervisors while simultaneously using provocative body language to draw attention. She views her whiteness as her primary source of power and protection in the industrial workplace.

Johnny is a blond, blue-eyed white laborer at the shipyard. During a gambling dispute, he physically attacks Bob and uses racial slurs, establishing himself as a direct physical threat. He represents the aggressive, unrestrained hatred that Bob feels bubbling beneath the surface of his daily life.

Ella Mae shares a living space with Bob and serves as his occasional romantic partner while her husband is deployed in the military. She is pragmatic and straightforward, frequently calling Bob out for his obsession with white women and his jealousy over Alice's light complexion.

Dr. Harrison is a successful physician and Alice's father. He enjoys a comfortable socioeconomic position and believes that Black Americans can earn equality by proving themselves respectable to white society. He frequently mentions his professional connections to emphasize his status.

Mrs. Harrison is Alice's mother. She takes immense pride in her family's social standing and openly disparages Southern migrants and working-class people. She becomes highly agitated when confronted with anger or revolutionary ideas regarding race relations.

Known around the shipyard as Mac, he is the department superintendent. He prioritizes maintaining the established hierarchy and immediately penalizes Bob for a verbal altercation, completely ignoring the racial slurs that provoked the incident.

Mr. Houghton is the president of the Atlas Corporation, the company that runs the shipyard. He represents the highest level of institutional authority and prioritizes the company's production schedule and public relations above discovering the truth of workplace conflicts.

Kelly is Bob's immediate supervisor at the Atlas Shipyard. He deliberately assigns the most difficult jobs to Black workers and constantly searches for reasons to yell at them for inefficiency.

Tom is a blond, white friend of Alice's who attends lectures with her. He adopts a highly condescending tone when discussing racial issues, attempting to instruct Bob on the proper, sensible way to respond to discrimination.

Cleo is an educated friend of Alice's who works in social services. She holds highly critical views of working-class neighborhoods and expresses intense anger toward Black men who marry white women.

Ben is a light-skinned, college-educated worker with a degree from UCLA. Despite his education, he is relegated to manual labor, leading him to conclude that fighting back is the only effective response to workplace hostility.

Don is an elderly white mechanic at the shipyard. He exhibits an inappropriate, voyeuristic curiosity regarding Bob's interactions with Madge, even offering Bob her home address.

Elsie is Madge's sister-in-law. She talks incessantly about the benefits of strict segregation in Texas, openly claiming that white people were made in God's image while others were just created to fill space.

Herbie serves as the union master at the Atlas Shipyard. When Bob seeks help filing a formal grievance regarding his demotion, Herbie provides evasive excuses to avoid taking action.