Robert "Bob" Jones is a young Black man working in an Atlas shipyard in Los Angeles during World War II. Originally from Ohio, he moved to California seeking better employment and a deferment from the draft. Despite his recent promotion to leaderman, Bob suffers from intense fear, anxiety, and rage fueled by the oppressive, everyday racism of white society. He struggles to maintain his sense of masculinity and autonomy while facing constant humiliation and systemic barriers.

Alice is a wealthy, educated Black woman who works as a social worker in Los Angeles. Benefiting from class privilege and light skin, she frequently socializes within white spaces and believes in conforming to the existing social order to achieve success. She expects Bob to suppress his anger and emulate respectable, upwardly mobile behavior, creating a sharp ideological divide between them.

Madge is a white, working-class woman from Texas who works as a tacker at the shipyard. She uses her race to manipulate those around her, feigning exaggerated fear of Black men while simultaneously acting sexually suggestive. Her refusal to work with Bob and her use of racial slurs precipitate a major professional crisis for him.

Johnny is a young, blond-haired, blue-eyed white man working at the Atlas shipyard. Cold and openly hateful, he attacks Bob after losing money in a gambling match. His unpunished violence makes him a focal point for Bob's boiling anger and desire for retaliation against white society.

Ella Mae is a Black woman who rents a room to Bob while her husband is deployed in the military. She helps Bob prepare for work each morning and serves as his occasional romantic partner. She is perceptive about Bob's psychological struggles and frequently criticizes his fixation on Alice's light skin.

Dr. Harrison is Alice's father, a wealthy and successful Black physician with political connections to the mayor. He has built a comfortable life by adhering to the rules of a segregated society. He treats Bob politely but maintains a subtle, condescending distance due to their differing class backgrounds.

Mrs. Harrison is Alice's mother, a woman who takes immense pride in her family's social standing and ability to blend into upper-class environments. She looks down on working-class Black migrants and believes that equality must be earned through respectable behavior. This stance openly frustrates Bob during their conversations.

Mr. MacDougal, known as Mac, is the department superintendent at the Atlas shipyard. When racial tensions flare between his employees, Mac prioritizes workplace hierarchy and the protection of white women over fairness. He refuses to acknowledge the racist abuse Bob endures on the job, opting instead to demote him for insubordination.

Mr. Houghton is the corporate president overseeing the Los Angeles shipyard. He represents the highest level of systemic power in Bob's professional life. He prioritizes the shipyard's production schedule and public image above the fair treatment of his Black employees, ensuring corporate stability at the expense of genuine workplace justice.

Kelly is a white supervisor at the shipyard who constantly monitors and harasses Bob's crew. He actively searches for reasons to reprimand the Black workers, contributing to the hostile and heavily policed atmosphere of Bob's daily routine.

Tom is a blond-haired, white friend of Alice's who feels comfortable in her upper-class Black social circles. He attempts to lecture Bob about literature and how minority groups should respond sensibly to discrimination, ignoring Bob's lived reality and inciting immediate resentment.

Cleo is one of Alice's educated friends who works in social services. She holds strong opinions on class and integration, expressing particular hostility toward Black men who pursue romantic relationships with white women.

Ben is a light-skinned Black worker at the shipyard who holds a degree from UCLA. Despite his education, he is subjected to the same menial labor conditions as the rest of the crew, leading him to believe that fighting back is the only effective response to white hostility.

Elsie is Madge's sister-in-law, recently arrived from Texas. She openly shares her racist views, claiming that racial tension stems from integration and using religious justifications to argue that white people are inherently superior to Black people.

Don is an elderly white mechanic at the shipyard who witnesses Bob's conflicts with Madge. While he acts friendly, he harbors an uncomfortable, voyeuristic curiosity about the sexual dynamics between Black men and white women.

Herbie is the union steward at the shipyard. When Bob seeks help regarding his unfair demotion, Herbie provides arbitrary excuses and refuses to assist. His inaction demonstrates that the labor union prioritizes white workers and ignores racial discrimination.