Answer:
B) The courts interpretation of whether the Equal protection clause allowed racial segregation.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the Plessy vs. Ferguson case (1896) the Supreme Court justices ruled that "separate but equal" facilities for blacks and white citizens were not a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. This allowed for segregated public and private facilities within the US for the next 6 decades.
This all changed with the Brown vs. Board of Education case (1954). In this case, the Supreme Court judges overruled the Plessy vs. Ferguson case and stated that "separate but equal" is a direct violation of the 14th amendment.