In the 1950s, schools were separated by race and the schools for black children were significantly inferior to the schools for white children. In Topeka, Kansas, Linda Brown had to walk a mile to get to her "black school" even though there was a "white school" that was only seven blocks from her house. The Browns hired McKinley Burnett as their lawyer to support Linda in her desire to integrate schools. He argued that segregated schools made black children feel inferior to whites, which therefore made segregation separate but not equal. The defense then argued that the segregated schools was good for them because it prepared the kids for the segregated world. The case of Plessy v. Ferguson made it unprecedented to rule in favor of the Browns. The court eventually ruled in favor of desegregating the schools because the segregation went against the 14th amendment. The court then abolished "separate but equal" as a common phrase.
