Supreme Court Case and Strict Scrutiny

The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has been central to many Supreme Court decisions addressing issues of discrimination.

One key aspect that the Court has consistently examined is whether laws or government actions classify individuals based on characteristics such as race, gender, or sexual orientation. The level of scrutiny applied by the Court varies based on the nature of the classification. For example, strict scrutiny applies to classifications based on race, while intermediate scrutiny is often applied to gender-based classifications.

Which of the following Supreme Court cases established the precedent for applying strict scrutiny to classifications based on race?