A local activist is pleading with the Wichita City Council to look into the issue of reparations for the African-American community in the city. Kansas Justice Advocate President Mary Dean is pointing at other cities across the country that have put together panels of experts to address how the African-American community can be compensated for historic racial discrimination and displacement. “East Coast, West Coast, everybody was doing it, and I’m like, ‘Wow, I think Wichita should join in and, you know, try to figure out how to repair the harm that had been done to Black people, over decades and centuries, and even up to now.'” She’s asked the city council to help form a panel on how to pay reparations. Council member Brandon Johnson said that he likes the idea, and that many may not understand what reparations are. “When they see some of us who’ve made it but don’t understand generationally, how we all haven’t made it and how there are still some historical blockades to our success. That conversation needs to continue. People need to understand that this is important work.” Johnson said that reparations don’t always mean direct payment of money, instead saying there could be a possibility of providing more opportunities for things like housing for African-Americans in Wichita. He adds a draft proposal will be discussed at a Diversity, Inclusion & Civil Rights Advisory Board meeting scheduled for July 16th.
Source: KAKE – News
