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The case of Brown vs. Board of Education began in Topeka on June 25, 1951, being held before the United States District Court of Kansas. The NAACP would struggle in trying to convince the jury that the schools were unequal because both school's courses and buildings were of equal standards and although the Sumner school was closer, Topeka still provided busing for the African Americans to get to their school. The NAACP argued that segregated schools sent the message to the black children that they were inferior to white; therefore, the schools were inherently unequal (Brown). The NAACP used psychologist's as their expert witnesses, who explained how beneficial it would be for children of all races to attend school together because that would help them come together as a unified society later in life. However, the Board of Education's defense was that, because segregation in Topeka and elsewhere pervaded many other aspects of life, segregated schools simply prepared black children for the segregation they face during adulthood (Brown). Judge Walter Huxman, spoke unanimously for the court and although they felt sympathy for the plaintiffs because of the precedent with Plessy, the court felt "compelled" to rule in favor of the Board of Education (Brown). Although the decision was against the plaintiffs, Huxman attached a "Finding of Fact" to the judgment, it read: .
"Segregation of white and colored people in .
public schools has a detrimental effect upon the .
colored children A sense of inferiority affects .
the motivation of a child to learn" (Dudley 39). .
Despite the judgment from the court of Kansas, it would not hinder the NAACP's movement with these cases. Brown and the NAACP appealed to the Supreme Court on October 1, 1951, and the other four cases that were being tried in lower courts at the same time would also be brought before the Supreme Court in October. The other cases challenging school segregation took place in Washington D.
