Forty years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed landmark legislation that changed the way Americans bought, sold and rented property.

At one time it was common for neighborhoods to be “restricted.” There were either explicit covenants or a “gentleman’s agreement” that houses were not to be sold to people of certain races, religions or ethnic backgrounds.

The same was true of rental property. Landlords freely and openly discriminated based on race and other factors.

The legislation Johnson signed on April 11, 1968, was meant to change that.