Supreme Court ruled in Hansberry v. Lee

November 13, 1940 The United States Supreme Court ruled in Hansberry v. Lee

The ruling states that whites could not bar African Americans from white neighborhoods, but did not rule that restrictive covenants based on race were void.

It ruled for Hansberry on a legal technicality that Lee did not represent the entire class because a number of the homeowners (approximately 46%) disagreed with the covenant. Restrictive covenants based on race were completely outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court on May 3, 1948 in the case of Shelley v. Kraemer.