Should Wichita Look at Reparations?

Most people agree, Black people in America suffered considerably from 400 years of slavery, but when Wichita activist Mary Dean talks about making amends, she’s also talking about amends for more than slavery.  

She’s also looking for amends from the past 150 years of discrepancies between the promises of the American Constitution and the galling limitations forced upon Black Americans. 

She points to laws barring Black people from enjoying a decent education, a fair wage, a trial by their peers, the right to vote, and more. And she sees the resulting impact these discriminatory laws and practices have had on her family and other African Americans in Wichita and Kansas.  

On Feb. 13, Dean plans to ask the Wichita City Council to appoint a commission to study the impact discriminatory practices like these and others have had on Wichita’s Black citizens and to propose specific ways amends can be made to help catch up, or compensate, these individuals for this discrimination. 

“When people think of reparations they think it only has to do with slavery and that it’s just  about a check,” says Dean. “There’s nothing wrong with a check, but there’s a lot more and I’m asking for a commission of qualified individuals to look into, identify and quantify the damages of local discrimination.”  

Dean says the commission should be made up of individuals with expertise in several key areas:  housing, economics, criminal justice, health care and education.  These are similar to the areas of focus for the Kansas City Reparations Commission appointed by Mayor Quinton Lucas in May 2023.  

Dean points out a number of local policies and practices that she says have had a negative impact on Wichita’s Black residents.    

“For years, people were living on top of contaminated soil and water without even knowing it. People have not been compensated for the lives and property lost when a tanker plane crashed into their neighborhood,” says Dean.  

Based on Wichita’s history with the 29th Street and Grove chemical spill, Dean is also asking for a local commission to look into discriminatory environmental justice practices on a local level.  

National Reparations Movement  

It was 1989 when Congressman John Conyers (D – Michigan) first introduced HR40, a resolution to establish a commission to examine the merits of introducing reparations to African-Americans. Conyers died in 2019 without the bill getting much consideration, but since his death, what was once a fringe idea is growing in interest and support.

More states and local municipalities are launching task forces and programs to examine possible forms of reparations.  

“Evanston, IL, is the first city in the country to actually do reparations,” said Dean. “They are

dispensing checks for $25,000 to their residents. New York City and Kansas City, MO, have

named commissions to study reparations for their citizens.”

The State of California has also been aggressively reviewing if and how to administer reparations and the State of New York recently authorized establishment of a reparations commission.   

Dean has been working with the national organization Journey for Justice, dedicated to

promoting more equitable and sustainable educational opportunities, and with attorney Mickey

Dean, adviser to KCMO’s Reparations Commission. 

Dean and that commission have struggled to get the funding to pay for the necessary research to establish and identify the extent of harm experienced from discriminatory practices. They have asked for $500,000 for their study. 

“I think it would be wonderful for the city of Wichita to do the right thing during Black History

Month. I’d love to see us start a commission to help the healing process for 40,916 Black

people in the city of Wichita,” said Dean. “I’d also like to see the state do the same thing for all 178,000 Black residents of the 105 counties in Kansas.”