The U.S. Supreme Court case Norwood et al. v. Harrison et al., 1972, revolved around the issue of whether a state could provide textbooks to private schools that practiced racial discrimination without violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Mississippi State Legislature had enacted laws allowing for such provision and these were challenged by parents of African-American children attending public schools in Mississippi. In its decision, the Supreme Court held that while states are not required to prohibit racially discriminatory practices in private institutions, they cannot contribute or support such practices either directly or indirectly through aid programs like textbook loans. It was ruled that providing textbooks constituted "significant" assistance and thus violated equal protection principles if given to racially discriminatory schools. This ruling reaffirmed previous decisions stating government must remain neutral on issues involving race-based actions by private entities but also clarified this neutrality means avoiding any form of supportive involvement with those who practice racial discrimination.

In the dissenting opinion for Norwood v. Harrison, the justices argued that while they agreed with the majority's decision to prohibit direct aid to racially discriminatory private schools, they disagreed on indirect aid. They contended that not all forms of indirect assistance should be deemed unconstitutional as it could potentially infringe upon a citizen's right to choose where their child is educated. The dissenters believed that if a state provides benefits like textbooks and transportation equally across both public and private schools without any racial discrimination intent or effect, then such actions are constitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. They also expressed concern about how this ruling might impact other types of government support provided in an even-handed manner such as police protection or tax exemptions.