Shelley v. Kraemer was a landmark United States Supreme Court case decided in 1948. The case involved a racially restrictive covenant on a property in St. Louis, Missouri, which prohibited the sale of the property to African Americans.

J.D. Shelley, an African American man, purchased the property and subsequently faced legal action from the neighbors who sought to enforce the racial covenant. The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, which held that state courts could not enforce racially restrictive covenants as they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The decision in Shelley v. Kraemer struck a blow against the practice of racial discrimination in housing and set an important precedent for the civil rights movement. It helped pave the way for greater housing integration and equal access to housing for African Americans and other marginalized groups.