Ernest and Serena Corn, along with their children, lived through racial tensions and segregation in an unpretentious town called "Sunshine", that was located in the deep South. After losing everything they had, Ernest decided that he wanted a better life for his family, and he didn't want his children to experience the racial tension that existed, and the effect it had on he and Serena, and so many of the other poor people that lived in Sunshine!