[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 12 (Friday, January 20, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   SALUTE TO A CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER--ERNEST McBRIDE OF LONG BEACH, CA

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                           HON. STEPHEN HORN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 20, 1995
  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, during this week in which we 
commemorate the life and legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Lurther 
King, to honor a gentleman from my District, California's 38th, Mr. 
Ernest McBride, whose life and work embody the spirit and intent of Dr. 
King's message. Throughout his half century of residency in our 
community, Mr. McBride has been a crusader for civil rights and racial 
justice--and our community is a much better place for his dedication.
  Mr. McBride, who is now 85 years of age, moved to southern California 
when he was 21 to seek a better life for himself and escape the racism 
and prejudice of his native South. Unfortunately, as an African-
American, he did not find the California of the thirties much better. 
Arriving in a nearby community, he saw a sign that read, ``We don't 
serve coloreds here''. But instead of traveling on, Mr. McBride chose 
to remain. He recently told a Los Angeles Times reporter, ``I decided I 
had to stop and fight somewhere. And I decided Long Beach was where I 
was going to stop.''
  Mr. McBride's determination to stay in Long Beach turned out to be a 
decision which has benefited many people. He fought prejudice and 
injustice wherever he saw it--not through violence and hatred, but with 
an attitude of determination and dignity. In 1932, he was hired as a 
grocery store janitor. Over the 8 years that he worked there, his 
requests for a raise were continually turned down--until he organized 
his fellow workers and eventually won a raise and a shorter workweek.
  In the early 1940's, when a union at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard 
refused to allow African-Americans to join, Mr. McBride rounded up 180 
people to petition President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The President 
responded by ordering the union to allow minorities to join or face 
losing its status as a bargaining agent.
  As Dr. King began garnering national attention with his nonviolent 
efforts to end discrimination and prejudice, Mr. McBride led picketing 
against local grocery stores that refused to hire blacks and pressured 
Long Beach city leaders to open up more jobs for African-Americans. He 
organized a student revolt at a Long Beach high school that forced 
school officials to abandon minstrel shows and to drop a textbook that 
depicted African-Americans only as slaves.
  Mr. McBride cofounded the Long Beach chapter of the National 
Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP], and his 
house was often the chapter's gathering place where members discussed 
strategies for desegregating housing, ending discriminatory hiring 
practices, and ridding local schools of racially-biased textbooks.
  Recently, Mr. McBride's home of many years--a modest bungalow which 
he purchased in the 1940's despite racially restrictive covenants and 
neighbors who petitioned to keep him out--was declared a historical 
landmark by the city council in honor of Mr. McBride's dedicated 
efforts to make our community a place that welcomes and encourages 
peoples of all races.
  After the city council's unanimous vote, Long Beach City Council Alan 
S. Lowenthal, said, ``It's certainly too bad we can't designate Ernie 
and his late wife Lilly as a historic monument. He really is the 
landmark.''
  Today I honor Mr. McBride and thank him. He stands as a model of the 
good that one man--with dedication and compassion--can accomplish for 
the generations to come.


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