This fact-based film chronicles the journey of a white reporter, John Finley Horton (James Whitmore), who attempts to live as a black man in the American South during the 1950s. After undergoing treatments to darken his skin, Horton ventures from town to town, experiencing hostile racism from whites whom he doesn't provoke in any way. He also interacts with blacks and finds that they simply want justice, though some are pessimistic that change will ever come peacefully