William Boston has just joined the all-black 24th infantry of the United States Army. A natural leader, Boston quickly rises within his troop and is looked up to by the others. When the men are sent to the South, where racism runs rampant in a merciless community, the troop is pushed to their limit. After endless brutal acts of violence, Boston and the men turn their fear and rage against the city, inciting one of the deadliest riots in history.

Based on a true story, in the early 1970s, an African American police officer orchestrates a plan to infiltrate and expose the Ku Klux Klan.