[asher_]

As someone unfamiliar with US law, could someone explain whether it's illegal for companies like Oracle to pay white, male workers more (as stated in the article) or if it's only illegal to pay them more because they are male and white?

The former seems obviously absurd. So, assuming it's the latter, has the government supplied any evidence that this has happened?

[adventured]

The only correct answer to all of this is: it's almost entirely arbitrary. Which is by design. The ideal is to be able to punish anyone at any time for any reason to enforce whatever agenda happens to be popular at the present whim (the popularity of whatever is the cultural moment's definition of equality will shift non-stop year to year, decade to decade; so you need strictly arbitrary standards, so you can always be able to swing a hammer down upon someone / some company that is out of step with the shifting definitions, otherwise the entire thing becomes rigid and collapses).