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Yes, I think I have some idea of what you mean. Thinking about how to decide whether treatment is equal can get confusing.

Suppose two people go into a library. The first person has no trouble walking. The second must use a wheelchair. They both want to go to the second floor. The librarian directs both of them to the stairs.

Now, here's the question: Are they being treated equally?

The librarian says they are being treated equally because they are both being offered exactly the same means to get to the second floor. The person in the wheelchair says that they are not being treated equally because one is being offered a means he can use and the other is being offered a means that he cannot use.

Now if we think in terms of identical treatment (as in the desegregation cases) we might agree with the librarian. But, on the other hand, there seems to be something to what the handicapped person says. My point is only that this question gets confusing and murky very quickly.

To go back to our question: How do we decide when treatment is equal?