1946 – U.S. Supreme Court Outlaws White-Only Housing Covenants

While the final ruling in Shelley v. Kraemer was on May 3, the enforcement and legal impact of the case reverberated into early June. On June 3, 1946, states began official responses to the decision, which ruled that racially restrictive housing covenants could not be enforced by courts. These covenants, often used to keep Black families out of white neighborhoods, had been legal mechanisms of segregation for decades. The Shelley family, a Black couple from Missouri, had purchased a home in a previously all-white area, prompting legal opposition. Their victory set a nationwide precedent. Though it did not outlaw private discrimination, it effectively eliminated judicial support for race-based zoning. June 3 marks the beginning of a new era in fair housing advocacy and is a critical legal moment in the broader civil rights movement’s march toward equality in American cities.