Although there were laws in place to protect the rights of african americans, what was the problem?

The problem was that the majority white population was not ready to give African Americans the social acceptance that was required to make them live together in harmony.

Explanation:

Though the laws granted the African American community the status of free and equal human beings, they were still not looked at by most whites as people equal to them in the degree of superiority. Owing to such mentality of most whites, there erupted frequent conflicts between the people belonging to the African American community and the whites despite laws being there in the place.

The answer is ethnic groups.