Civil rights activist sues Wichita over stalled proposal for reparations

Civil rights activist Mary Dean is suing the city of Wichita over her years-long efforts to get the city to consider a reparations ordinance.

Dean was recently removed from a city council meeting where she was advocating for the ordinance.

“Ms. Dean was publicly humiliated in front of City officials and members of the public, silenced from exercising her constitutional right to petition her government,” the lawsuit reads.

Dean has been advocating for a reparations ordinance for Black Wichita residents for years, but hit a road block when the city suspended its Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights Advisory Board.

The Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights Advisory board voted in May to submit a letter to the city council requesting that city leaders consider a proposed reparations ordinance without endorsing the plan.

But the city recently suspended the board under new federal guidelines and has been cautious about implementing any new ordinances pertaining to race and gender.

Dean is suing the city, City Manager Robert Layton, City Attorney Jennifer Magana, Mayor Lily Wu and other council members who voted in favor of suspending the board.

“As a result, Ms. Dean has suffered emotional distress, reputational harm, and loss of two years of her life’s work advocating for racial equality in Wichita,” the suitreads.

In her lawsuit, filed in federal court, Dean said the city violated her civil rights and the Fourteenth Amendment by not allowing the ordinance to be considered by the council.

The suit also claims her rights were violated. “By ordering her removal from chambers, Defendants deprived her of liberty without due process of law and silenced her right to petition the government.”

Dean is suing for $1,842,482,472, according to court filings. Dean would not comment on how she came up with the number, but says she’s representing herself and other Black residents.

“I just wish and pray that Black people in Wichita would stand up for themselves and become more empowered and engaged in the issues that have impacted them for decades in this city,” Dean said in an interview with The Eagle.

The city declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Dean has previously filed an ethics complaint with the city against the mayor, claiming Wu violated the city’s code of ethics by not considering the ordinance.

The ethics board ultimately found that the mayor was not in violation of the ethics code.