KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The heads of the local NAACP, Urban League and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference on Tuesday successfully sought to address the Kansas City Council Thursday about their concerns about inequitites in the enforcement of the dress code at the downtown entertainment district.
Anita Russell, president of the local NAACP, Gwen Grant, president of the Kansas City Urban League chapter and the Rev. Nelson "Fuzzy" Thompson, leader of the SCLC locally, signed the letter to Mayor Mark Funkhouser. The three maintain discrimination persists in the dress code at the Power and Light District.
"It is clear that people of color are frequently denied access when similarly attired whites are routinely admitted," according to the letter. They wrote that the city government cannot turn a blind eye to discrimination in taxpayer-funded facilities and it is unaccceptable to do so.
They asked Funkhouser to place them on the 1:30 p.m. business session agenda so that they can "outline our request for immediate remediation."
A spokesman for Funkhouser said Tuesday afternoon that Councilwoman Beth Gottstein had placed the three speakers on the agenda. Typically only invited guests are allowed to speak at council business sessions.
Gottstein was among city, civic and community leaders attending a noon meeting Tuesday in Funkhouser's office. Funkhouser has proposed creating a racial discrimination task force to address the dress code concerns.
Some of his colleagues have criticized this plan as not enough when action is needed. But others have applauded the proposal.
The spokesman said he did not know whether Funkhouser was going to push ahead with the task force or not but would update NBC Action News. Check back here on NBCActionNews.com for more information on this developing story.
