Which statement best describes the impact of separate but equal?

The statement that it allowed state laws to discriminate against blacks accurately encapsulates the essence of the "separate but equal" doctrine established by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. This legal doctrine maintained that racial segregation was permissible as long as the separate facilities for the different races were considered equal in quality. However, in practice, this led to systemic discrimination that upheld a social and legal framework of inequality. Many states enacted laws that segregated public facilities, including schools, which resulted in significant disparities in resources, funding, and educational opportunities for Black students compared to their white counterparts.

This doctrine was a crucial cornerstone in maintaining institutional racism and inequality within the United States for decades, only to be challenged and eventually overturned by later civil rights movements and court rulings, such as Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which found that separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.