The problems with protected groups

The government has recognized a number of protected classes. These classes typically reflect minority statuses. They include black Americans, homosexuals, transgender, and similar groups.

The idea behind protected classes is supposed to be that certain groups needs special protections. In order to give these groups special protections, the government can't treat them as equal to unprotected statuses. The government must treat people differently based on these statuses.

When the government openly insists that some groups should be protected and other groups should be unprotected, they must treat people in an unequal manner. They also create division and potentially resentment. This can turn people without these protections against the people the government is trying to help.

Our goal should be equality. This concept is incompatible with intentionally unequal treatment. Crimes are crimes regardless of targets. Hate is hate regardless of targets. We can look into these issues without insisting that different groups play by different rules.