With substantive due process, the 14th Amendment protects a parent's right to direct the educational upbringing of their child. Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment vests Congress with the authority to adopt "appropriate" legislation to enforce the other parts of the Amendment.This segregation was alleged to deprive the plaintiffs of the equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Due Process Clause provides that no states shall deprive any "person" of "life, liberty or property" without due process of law. More in The Constitution. Essential Question: How has the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause affected racial discrimination in the United States? The Equal Protection Clause requires each state to provide equal protection under the law to all people, including non-citizens, within its jurisdiction.