Read the authoritative 1977 scholarly work on the 14th by Raoul Berger, Government by Judiciary, the Transformation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
You only have to read the 14th amendment to see that I am correct.
Yes, I know about the incorporation doctrine. But they wouldn't have been able to put forth that idea without the garbage verbiage contained within the Amendment.
Most amendments are straightforward and clear, but the 14th is like reading a badly written book.
You can "interpret" it in ways to give the federal judiciary the power to do anything they feel like doing.