## Facts

- The City of Memphis approved closing the north end of West Drive, a two-lane street running through the predominantly white Hein Park subdivision, at its intersection with heavily traveled roads to the north.
- The area immediately north of Hein Park was predominantly Black; at the time of the decision, homes in Hein Park were owned by white residents.
- The City constructed a physical barrier at the north end of West Drive where the two neighborhoods met.
- The City stated the closure aimed to reduce cut-through traffic, increase child safety, and reduce traffic-related pollution in the residential area.
- The closure modestly altered traffic patterns, requiring some drivers to use nearby streets and causing some added travel distance and reduced convenience for certain local trips.
- Black residents and civic associations filed a class action alleging the closure violated 42 U.S.C. § 1982 and constituted a “badge or incident of slavery” under the Thirteenth Amendment.

## Issues

1. Whether closing the north end of West Drive violated 42 U.S.C. § 1982 by denying Black residents the same right as white citizens to hold and enjoy property.
2. Whether the street closure constituted a “badge or incident of slavery” prohibited by the Thirteenth Amendment.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit and reinstated judgment for the City.
- The Court held the closure did not violate § 1982 because the record showed, at most, minor inconvenience rather than a substantial impairment of property rights or access.
- The Court held discriminatory purpose was not proven and deferred to the district court’s factual findings that normal procedures were followed and racial intent was not established.
- The Court held the measure did not impose a Thirteenth Amendment “badge of slavery,” treating it as a conventional traffic and safety regulation rather than racial subordination.

## Legal Principles

- Section 1982 protects rights not only to acquire property but also to “hold and enjoy” it; liability requires a meaningful, nontrivial interference with those rights, not ordinary inconvenience.
- For facially neutral municipal actions, proof of racially discriminatory intent or purpose is required to establish unlawful racial discrimination under § 1982 on the theory presented.
- Municipal traffic and safety measures are generally valid exercises of local authority absent proof that they operate as discriminatory deprivations of protected property rights.
- The Thirteenth Amendment’s “badges and incidents of slavery” doctrine does not reach routine local regulations without a legally cognizable form of racial subordination comparable to historically prohibited incidents.

## Conclusion

The Court upheld Memphis’s closure of West Drive, concluding that the barrier caused only limited inconvenience, did not substantially impair Black residents’ property rights, and was not shown to be motivated by racial discrimination or to constitute a Thirteenth Amendment “badge of slavery.”


City of Memphis v. Greene, 451 U.S. 100 (1981)