Massachusetts passes the Fair Housing Law banning housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, and religion.
Race-based restrictive covenants are agreements that forbid the sale or lease of a property to a non-white person, a practice that began in Massachusetts as early as the 1840s. After the state law passes, the covenants become prohibited.
State actions precede federal actions; in 1948, the U.S. Supreme Court finds that private parties can agree to race-based covenants but the state can not enforce them; in 1949, the Federal Housing Act is passed; and finally in 1968 The Federal Fair Housing Act is passed, banning housing discrimination nationally.
