<P> "Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children . The effect is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group . A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn . Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to (retard) the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racial (ly) integrated school system ."... </P> <P> We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place . Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal . Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and others similarly situated for whom the actions have been brought are, by reason of the segregation complained of, deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment . </P> <P> The Topeka junior high schools had been integrated since 1941 . Topeka High School was integrated from its inception in 1871 and its sports teams from 1949 on . The Kansas law permitting segregated schools allowed them only "below the high school level". </P> <P> Soon after the district court decision, election outcomes and the political climate in Topeka changed . The Board of Education of Topeka began to end segregation in the Topeka elementary schools in August 1953, integrating two attendance districts . All the Topeka elementary schools were changed to neighborhood attendance centers in January 1956, although existing students were allowed to continue attending their prior assigned schools at their option . Plaintiff Zelma Henderson, in a 2004 interview, recalled that no demonstrations or tumult accompanied desegregation in Topeka's schools: </P>

How did brown vs board of education come about