The Fourteenth Amendment made all native-born men and women citizens and guaranteed them equal protection under the law. The citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment was specifically intended to repeal the Dred Scott decision.The 13th Amendment emancipated enslaved African Americans and the 14th promised equal protection under the laws. Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act of 1924, which prohibited marriages between black and white Virginians. Black men were no longer excluded from voting, but disenfranchisement, the act of blocking a legal right to vote, began almost immediately. It is true that the chief interest of the people in giving permanence and security to citizen- ship in the Fourteenth Amendment was the desire to protect Ne-. The Legislative Branch. Felons can lose the right to vote in some situations, but this is constitutionally permissible so long as these laws apply to all Americans equally. 4 ° The Court stated that the West Virginia law singled out African Americans, branding them as inferior. Following the end of the Civil War, two constitutional provisions were ratified to protect the right of African Americans to vote.