At a time when racial segregation was popular, a black third-grader, Linda Brown, spoke out against the norm. Brown argued that she had to walk one mile to her black elementary school, although a white elementary school was only seven blocks away. In an effort to enroll his daughter in the white school, Oliver Brown went to McKinley Burnett, the head of Topeka's NAACP. The NAACP's actions culminated in a court hearing for the Browns' pleas for equality and an end to segregation. The Board attempted to counterargue by claiming that segregation was a way of life, and did not cause harm to the African American populace. The court was "compelled" to rule in support of the Board of Education, and the NAACP appealed to the Supreme Court. The court decided that the 14th Amendment did not call for segregation in schools, and that minorities should have equal protecion under the law - segregation did not allow this. Hence, the Supreme Court struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine that previously existed, and called for the desegregation of schools. While this is a major victory during the time, complete equality was still very far from the African Americans' grasp.
