Which Supreme Court case addressed racially-based restrictive covenants?

The case of Shelley v. Kraemer is significant because it directly addressed the validity and enforceability of racially-based restrictive covenants in real estate. In this landmark decision, the Supreme Court ruled that while private parties may voluntarily establish racially discriminatory covenants, such covenants cannot be enforced by state courts if doing so would violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The case involved a couple, the Shelleys, who faced legal opposition from their neighbors when they sought to occupy a home in a neighborhood that was restricted by a covenant prohibiting sales to Black individuals. The Supreme Court found that while the racially restrictive covenant itself was not inherently illegal, state judicial enforcement of it constituted state action that violated the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. This crucial ruling helped dismantle racially discriminatory practices in housing, affirming that the judicial system could not sanction racial discrimination.

In contrast, while the other cases listed are also significant in the context of civil rights and race relations—such as Brown v. Board of Education, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional, Loving v. Virginia, which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage, and Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld segregation under the