[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 131 (Tuesday, November 16, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING THE MEMORY OF ERNEST J. WAITS SR., A CINCINNATI CIVIL RIGHTS 
                                PIONEER

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ROB PORTMAN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 16, 2004

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of a 
friend and hero, Ernest J. Waits Sr. of Cincinnati, who passed away on 
October 19, 2004.
  Mr. Waits was a pioneering civil rights activist. He worked his whole 
lifetime for desegregation and to open doors for African Americans. 
Born in Flat Rock, Georgia in 1920, he moved to Cincinnati with his 
family in 1922 and grew up in Cincinnati's West End. Mr. Waits was 
known to say that he became a civil rights fighter one day when school 
textbooks at Sands School were in short supply, and he was told he 
could not share a textbook with a white student. He challenged 
injustice, as he put it, ``I've been challenging things all the way 
through.''
  And he has. At Woodward High School in 1935, Mr. Waits called for 
integration of the swimming pool and the prom. In 1939, at age 19, he 
wanted to see comedian Eddie ``Rochester'' Anderson at Cincinnati's 
Schubert Theater. He insisted on being admitted, employing a strategy 
of civil disobedience later embraced by others in the civil rights 
movement. From that point on, Mr. Waits joined with others in 
Cincinnati who pushed for desegregation and civil rights.
  In breaking race barriers, Mr. Waits held many Cincinnati ``firsts.'' 
In 1947, he became the first African American Cincinnati radio disc 
jockey. For twelve years, he played jazz for a number of local 
stations, and was known for his creative programming in an era when 
there were few alternatives for African Americans. From 1958 to 1960, 
he was the first African American in Cincinnati to be an assistant 
sales manager for two auto dealerships. In 1960, he attended 
Northwestern University to study investment banking, and returned to 
Cincinnati to become the first African American New York Stock Exchange 
registered broker. He was the first African American to work for 
Cincinnati & Suburban Bell Telephone Company, and in the 1970s, he 
pioneered the concept of magnet schools to encourage inclusiveness and 
voluntary school desegregation.
  He received many honors for his volunteer and community service, 
including a key to the city of Cincinnati and the ``Mayor's Hometown 
Hero'' award; a Cincinnati City Council resolution recognizing him as a 
leader in the ongoing campaign for racial equality; the Black Male 
Coalition's 1993 Living Hero Award; the 1992 Broadcasting Hall of Fame 
Award; the Cincinnati Historical Society's Best in Broadcasting Hall of 
Fame Award; and an Amistad Foundation Award. He served in the U.S. Army 
as a mechanic based in Biloxi, Mississippi.
  Mr. Waits' wife of 37 years, Betty, died in 1986, and a son, Eric 
Wilson Waits, died in March 2004. He is survived by a son, Ernest J. 
Waits, Jr.; three daughters, Kym Zimmers of North Avondale and Diane 
``Taffi'' Weaver of Forest Park, and Shelley Moon of Los Angeles; nine 
grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
  All of us in Cincinnati are grateful for the gift of Ernest Waits' 
life and his inspiration.

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