Two families, the Hazards and the Mains, are geographically and ideologically separated by the U.S. Civil War. The hatred, prejudice, and greed that tear at the fabric of a nation also threaten to destroy the threads that have woven the lives of these two families together.

Lou Gosset Jr. is a grizzled con, when Jared Williams (Blair Underwood) arrives in the prison, is soon revealed to be his long-lost son. When the two are realized the parole board stipulates that Jared and his father live with him. While his father gets a job as a car mechanic, and falls in with Yvonne (Rae Dawn Chong), Underwood falls in with his old criminal buddies, who decide to rob the dealership where his father works.