Final answer:
The growth of public schools in the South led to a segregated educational system where Blacks and Whites were kept in separate schools with African American facilities typically being inferior, following the institutionalized practices of Jim Crow laws.
Step-by-step explanation:
As the number of public schools in the South began to grow following the Civil War, segregation in the form of separate educational systems for Black and White students was the standard, rather than integrated schools. Jim Crow laws institutionalized policies that led to separate and unequal educational experiences. Though some progress was made, such as the establishment of schools for Blacks by the Freedmen's Bureau and some efforts by White philanthropy to improve education quality for African Americans, the educational systems remained fundamentally unequal. Many states, including those outside the South, maintained or allowed for segregated schools. This practice was sanctioned by the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court decision, which upheld the doctrine of 'separate but equal.' However, the reality was that facilities for Blacks were usually inferior, and equal educational access was not achieved.