The Fourteenth Amendment’s language about equal protection for all citizens has provided the bedrock argument for resistance to the way affirmative action has been conducted since 1965. It is not favored treatment as such that is in question. After all, any public policy, whether about taxes, welfare, or trade, confers advantages on some with costs paid by others. Legislation always sorts people into categories and ranks. Rather, it is preferential treatment for a group based on race.
