The only thing that matters about the 14A, is what the ratifiers thoght it meant. And the ratifiers thought it was a Civil War Reconstruction Amendment to free Negro slaves and give them full citizenship. Period. Nothing else.
True.
Bingo!
That is quite important and is consistent with the well-established legal principal used by courts to resolve interpretation of ambiguous contract terms. The authors of the amendment made the meaning very clear to the Congress prior to passage.
Perhaps in this case, unfortunately, one should say "used by the lower courts".
Problem is, it doesn’t SAY IT in black and white.