Shelley v. Kraemer was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case in 1948 that dealt with racially restrictive housing covenants. The case involved a Black family, the Shelleys, who purchased a home in St. Louis, Missouri, that was subject to a racially restrictive covenant prohibiting the occupancy of the property by Black individuals.

When the Shelleys moved into the home, a neighbor named Louis Kraemer sued to enforce the racially restrictive covenant. The case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the Court ruled that state courts could not enforce racially restrictive covenants as they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Shelley v. Kraemer decision marked an important legal victory in the fight against housing discrimination and segregation. It helped pave the way for later civil rights legislation, such as the Fair Housing Act of 1968, which prohibited discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, or national origin.