Let me respond with my opinion: If a water fountain is a private object, then the owner can pass whatever restrictions he or she wants on its use. However, du

Let me respond with my opinion: If a water fountain is a private object, then the owner can pass whatever restrictions he or she wants on its use. However, during the Jim Crow era those restrictions were passed by the government as part of a policy of institutionally enforced segregation. The governments passage of those laws constitutes an "imitation of force" on both the water fountain owners and users.