August 31, 2025
Mary Dean, a civil rights activist and a resident of Wichita, Kansas, is suing the city over their decision to disband its Diversity, Inclusion, and Civil Rights Board.
Mary Dean, a civil rights activist and a resident of Wichita, Kansas is suing the city over their decision to disband its Diversity, Inclusion, and Civil Rights Board as well as what the lawsuit describes as a public humiliation stemming from her unceremonious removal from a city council meeting where she advocated for a reparations ordinance.
According to The Wichita Eagle, Dean has pushed the city to adopt an ordinance on reparations for years, but her efforts were thwarted when the board was suspended earlier this year amid concerns of any ordinance it may implement with respect to race and gender.
According to the federal lawsuit, “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. 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.”
Furthermore, Dean’s lawsuit names Wichita mayor Lily Wu, City Manager Robert Layton, City Attorney Jennifer Magana, and other city council members who voted to suspend the board.
Dean is also alleging in her lawsuit that the city violated her civil rights as well as the Fourteenth Amendment due to the city council’s decision not to consider the ordinance she has championed.
“By ordering her removal from chambers, Defendants deprived her of liberty without due process of law and silenced her right to petition the government,” the suit states.
In an interview with the outlet, Dean, who is suing the city and the named defendants for $1,842,482,472, a figure she declined to provide specifics on, implored Black people in Wichita to stand up and take action.
“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.
According to KWCH, in July, after the city’s vote to suspend the board, Layton said the move was spurred by the federal government’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives which could cost the city approximately $100 million if the federal government decides to pull funding.
“There is the possibility that a portion of that [$100 million] could be suspended or put in advance, and then that would force us to respond to any complaints or claims filed by the federal government,” Layton said in a city council meeting that month.
In addition, according to board chair Tabitha Lehman, all of the work of the board at the time was under review from the city’s legal department.
“I would say that that was part of our discussion as a board, acknowledging that that’s the position the City is in. That was why things needed to be under legal review, because of these grant funds being on the line.”
As KAKE also reported in July, the decision by the city council reflects similar choices being considered across the country, but as the 4-3 council vote underscored, not everyone was on board with the decision to scrap the Diversity, Inclusion, and Civil Rights Board.
Councilmember Brandon Johnson opened his statement to the outlet with a textbook definition of fascism, criticism of the federal government and concern for constitutional violations.
“Without elaborating, whether you agree with my inference or not, you undoubtedly know exactly what and whom I’m referring to. That alone speaks volumes. The executive branch of the United States government continues to push the boundaries of settled law and the Constitution, infringing upon our God given rights simply because the current occupant disagrees,” Johnson said.
He continued, contextualizing what’s at stake for the residents of the city if that $100 million in funding is lost.
“We’ve got $100 million at risk. If Wichita doesn’t have $100 million, we’re going to have a lot of holes in what we provide all the way from transportation to housing to roads.”
As this situation and others like it continues to make clear, the Trump administration’s war on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs have painted rural and smaller towns into a corner, which Jill Habig, the founder and CEO of the Public Rights Project, asserted in her comments regarding a federal lawsuit joined by at least 60 local governments which asserts that the grant conditions issued by the Trump administration constitute an unlawful abuse of power.
“Communities shouldn’t have to lose critical services because of the Trump administration’s political agenda. These federal funding conditions aim to strip billions of dollars from local governments working to help people thrive. Public Rights Project is proud to represent a growing coalition of cities and counties across the country that are fighting back against this unlawful abuse of power,” Habig said in a press release.
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