Historians have noted that “suffering lurked beneath the apparent prosperity of the 1920s.” give three examples to support this conclusion.

African Americans did not share in the prosperity happening at the top end of society.  Especially in the South, black Americans not only struggled with poverty, but also battled entrenched racism.  Across America in the 1920s, more than half the country lived below the poverty line, and black Americans were among the worst off.

Women also were not really sharing in equal rights or status in society.  Sure, there are the images of women expressing themselves with new forms of fashion and hairstyle and entertainment, but that was the few.  The many were still in very traditional roles and if they worked outside the home, they were in low-paying roles like waitresses or cleaning women.

The apparent financial juggernaut of the stock market was a facade.  Most of the stock purchases were being done "on margin," meaning with borrowed money.  So the gains in the stock market were artificial and were setting up the country for a financial collapse and much suffering to come.