The main issue was the separation between the black and white races. During the late 1800's this was a time when slavery had ended but America was still seeing the after effects of such a huge turn in the system. So there was still inequality with whites having the upperhand and blacks being used and abused as needed. The Plessy v. Ferguson was the decision made that blacks and whites could remain separate but equal. This meant that even though there was an obvious difference between the world's created for blacks and whites they were still equal in terms of being human.
