Segregated lunch counters were a common manifestation of racial segregation in the United States during the Jim Crow era, which spanned from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. Segregated lunch counters were a reflection of the larger system of racial segregation that enforced the separation of public facilities, schools, transportation, and other spaces based on race.

In many parts of the country, Black people were not allowed to eat at the same lunch counters as white people. This segregation was often enforced through laws known as "Jim Crow laws" that mandated racial segregation in public places. These laws were upheld by the legal doctrine of "separate but equal," which allowed for segregation as long as facilities for Black people were supposed to be of equal quality to those for white people, although in reality they were often inferior.

The struggle against segregated lunch counters was a key part of the Civil Rights Movement. One of the most famous protests against segregated lunch counters occurred in 1960 with the Greensboro sit-ins, where four Black college students sat at a whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, sparking a wave of sit-ins and protests across the country.

These protests and the broader Civil Rights Movement eventually led to the desegregation of lunch counters and other public spaces through legal victories such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Segregated lunch counters serve as a powerful reminder of the systemic racism and discrimination that Black people faced in the United States and the courageous efforts of activists to challenge and dismantle these unjust practices.