Hattie McDaniel was also a major player in the civil rights movement for minorities. Prior to 1947 a homeowner or builder could put into the deed of a home a "restrictive covenant". This was simply a clause that said that blacks or Jews or other minorities could not buy the home. Hattie McDaniel bought a home in a restricted Los Angles neighborhood in the mid 1940s, and was being forced out by the white neighbors. She took her case to court and all the way to the US Supreme Court where she won her right to own that home. The court struck down all restrictive covenants in the United States.
