The 13th Amendment to the Constitution abolished the institution of enslavement in the United States after the Civil War ended in 1865, but unequal treatment of Black Americans and the formerly enslaved continued. Discrimination existed in all regions of the country, but legal forms of segregation were strongest in the former slave-holding states of the South. Strengthened by the Supreme Court decision of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896, which established the doctrine of “separate but equal,” public spaces divided facilities into those available for use by white citizens and facilities designated for use by “colored” persons, which was the term used at the time to refer to Black people or anyone considered non-white.

Restrooms and drinking fountains, school and swimming pools, public parks, jails, and hospitals were segregated, among other places. Private businesses gave Black patrons the least priority of service and Black people had to take inferior seats on public transportation. Laws were passed to restrict Black residents to living only in certain neighborhoods. Policing and the justice system were highly discriminatory toward Black residents. Separate hospitals, colleges, and care facilities were established for Black people, who were likewise discriminated against in education and employment and frequently denied the right to vote.