The District Court held that while Al-Kharzraji had properly alleged racial discrimination, the record was insufficient to determine whether he had been subjected to prejudice.

In response to this question the Court held that persons of Arabian ancestry were protected from racial discrimination under Section 1981.

Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice White maintained that section 1981 encompassed discrimination even among Caucasians.

Justice White noted that history did not support the claim that Arabs and other present-day "Caucasians" were considered to be a single race for the purposes of section 1981.

In the companion case, Shaare Tefila v. Cobb, a unanimous Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 likewise applies to discrimination against Jews.