via Wikipedia
When J.D. Shelley climbed the stairs to his family’s new St. Louis residence at 4600 Labodie Avenue, his heart raced.
Here was the property his family had sacrificed so much to purchase. He and his wife were ready to provide a loving and stable home life for their six children, within a community they expected to welcome them. Instead, their new neighbor Louis Kraemer turned their dreams into nightmares.
Kraemer, a white resident hellbent on barring Black families from owning in the neighborhood, insisted that the Shelleys had no legal claim to their property because their purchase violated the community’s restrictive covenant.
These covenants were agreements commonly adopted by homeowners’ associations of the early 20th century that said no property owner could sell to non-white families.
At first, the courts sided with the Shelleys, but Kraemer refused to back down.
Back and forth the legal battles went but, thankfully, the Shelleys refused to surrender.
Because of their courage, 1948’s monumental Shelley vs. Kraemer U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled AGAINST the disenfranchisement of Black property owners.
This was the decision that opened the doors for Black property owners to buy homes and build wealth WHEREVER they wished, as state courts could no longer legally enforce housing segregation practices like racial restrictive covenants.