The Freedom Rides of 1965 made one of the most significant contributions to creating equal rights for the aboriginal people because, it allowed aboriginals to be a part of Australian society and give them the chance to live their lives. The freedom rides came from the idea of some civil rights activists in the United States that used the same tactic to fight for equal rights of the people that were judged because of their race or skin colour. Inspired by the civil rights activists of 1961 a group of Sydney university students created a group called the Student Action for Aboriginals, this group was led by Charles Perkins and the aim of the group was to fight for equal rights for the indigenous community. In this essay I will be telling you how the freedom rides lead to the referendum of 1967, other events that also contributed to the referendum of 1967 and the success of the referendum because of the events that pushed for equal rights for aboriginals.
The freedom rides of 1965 were a group of Students from Sydney that were willing to fight for the rights of indigenous people, this plan was set into motion by the person who led them Charles Perkins. He started the movement with the plan to copy what some “Freedom Riders” did in America were they piled themselves into interstate buses to fight for racial equality. Charles first headed for the country towns of New South Whales were he encountered many discrepancies such as “Aboriginal people being routinely barred from clubs, swimming pools and cafes. They were frequently refused service in shops and refused drinks in hotel” (The National Museum of Australia). They fought against these racial views by protesting to raise the issue of equal rights for the indigenous people. The fre...
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...al activist groups and the aboriginal people. The freedom rides, wave hill walk off and day of mourning petition definitely sent a message to the government of Australia that not only do the aboriginal people want equal rights but many white Australians wanted this for them as well.
In conclusion the freedom rides were most definitely one of the main reasons why the aboriginal people today are not secluded from normal society and singled out because of their skin colour. Now the aboriginal people have equal rights as any everyday Australian and have the right to elect the leader of their choosing and not having to go along with everything the white men say. The other events such as the wave hill walk off were also had a great result to help push the equal rights of the aboriginal and indigenous community so that they are now on equal footholds as any normal person.
The 1965 Freedom Ride exhibition introduced to many the Students Actions for Aboriginals organizations and explained how students from the University of Sydney drew national and international attention to the poor living conditions of Aboriginal people and the racism that was rife in New South Wale country towns from 12-26 February 1965. This event marked the beginning of resetting the relationships between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people in contemporary Australia. Aboriginal people weren’t counted as citizens and they faced a lot of discrimination. But Charles Perkins wanted to change that. He was the first Aboriginal person to graduate from university. He was also a big fan of American civil rights activist Martin Luther King. So, inspired by events King championed in US, Charles organised a
Aboriginal children under 12 were working illegally, with inadequate accommodation and rations, sexual abuse of Aboriginal women, no sanitation or rubbish removal facilities, and limitation to safe drinking water. -(1)- . It was not just the land right issues that triggered this campaign, but also the lack of personal rights and freedom of the Aboriginals that influenced this action.
Over the years Australia has had many different problems with racism and racism affecting peoples’ lives. Many racial groups have been affected, most significantly the Aboriginals. The end of world war two in 1945 marked a huge change in types of racism. Australia went from the ‘superior’ white Australians dominating over immigrants and aboriginals. To a relatively multicultural and accepting society that is present today.
There have been many unanswered questions in Australia about Aboriginal history. One of these is which government policy towards indigenous people has had the largest impact on Indigenous Australians? Through research the Assimilation Policy had the largest impact upon Indigenous Australians and the three supporting arguments to prove this are the Aborigines losing their rights to freedom, Aboriginal children being removed from their families, and finally the loss of aboriginality.
...ndigenous recognition and the removal of racist remarks has been an on-going theme for a vast majority of time. The necessity of Constitutional reform to close the gap on cultural divide as well as support the on-going concept of reconciliation is essential in ensuring Australia continues to improve and nurture its relationship with Indigenous peoples. The process of amendment through referendum has proven to be problematic in the past, with the success rate exceptionally low. Though with key factors such as bi-partisan support, widespread public knowledge and correct management, the alteration to remove racial discrimination and provide recognition for Indigenous persons within the Constitution is highly achievable. If proposed and eventually passed, this will provide assistance in eliminating many of the cultural gaps Indigenous persons face throughout society.
Throughout the world, in history and in present day, injustice has affected all of us. Whether it is racial, sexist, discriminatory, being left disadvantaged or worse, injustice surrounds us. Australia is a country that has been plagued by injustice since the day our British ancestors first set foot on Australian soil and claimed the land as theirs. We’ve killed off many of the Indigenous Aboriginal people, and also took Aboriginal children away from their families; this is known as the stolen generation. On the day Australia became a federation in 1901, the first Prime Minister of Australia, Edmund Barton, created the White Australia Policy. This only let people of white skin colour migrate to the country. Even though Australia was the first country to let women vote, women didn’t stand in Parliament until 1943 as many of us didn’t support female candidates, this was 40 years after they passed the law in Australian Parliament for women to stand in elections. After the events of World War Two, we have made an effort to make a stop to these issues here in Australia.
This documentary, “The Freedom Riders” shows the story of courageous civil rights activists called ‘Freedom Riders’ in 1961 who confronted institutionalized and culturally-accepted segregation in the American South by travelling around the Deep South on buses and trains.
Foner, Eric and John A. Garraty. "Freedom Rides." The Reader's Companion to American History. 1 Dec. 1991: n.p. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 19 May. 2014. .
In 1961, the US Freedom Rides was quite a significant event that is still remembered by many Americans and African-Americans today. It was the time when racial discrimination and segregation had existed and has had an immense effect and impact on African-Americans. Yet, it had ended after a lot of hard work protesting, campaigning in different areas of America and thanks to some key events that had also helped along with these including the Birmingham Campaign and Martin Luther King Jr’s activism. This event of the United States however is a lot similar to events that had occurred in Australia at the time and is considered to be an inspiration to Aboriginal activism and protest in Australia. The event that took place for the Aboriginal activism
Indigenous Australian land rights have sparked controversy between Non Indigenous and Indigenous Australians throughout history. The struggle to determine who the rightful owners of the land are is still largely controversial throughout Australia today. Indigenous Australian land rights however, go deeper than simply owning the land as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have established an innate spiritual connection making them one with the land. The emphasis of this essay is to determine how Indigenous Australian land rights have impacted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, highlighting land rights regarding the Mabo v. the State of Queensland case and the importance behind today’s teachers understanding and including Indigenous
The focus of the video documentary "Ain't Scared of your Jails" is on the courage displayed by thousands of African-American people who joined the ranks of the civil rights movement and gave it new direction. In 1960, lunch counter sit-ins spread across the south. In 1961, Freedom Rides were running throughout the southern states. These rides consisted of African Americans switching places with white Americans on public transportation buses. The whites sat in the back and black people sat in the front of the public buses. Many freedom riders faced violence and defied death threats as they strived to stop segregation by participating in these rides. In interstate bus travel under the Mason-Dixon Line, the growing movement toward racial equality influenced the 1960 presidential campaign. Federal rights verses state rights became an issue.
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
The 1964 Australian Freedom Rides were conducted by Sydney University students who were a part of a group called Student Action for Aboriginals (SAFA), led by none other than Charles Perkins— a man who would be the first Australian Aboriginal University graduate and was, at the time, a passionate third year arts student when he was elected leader of the SAFA.— Despite the name, the freedom rides took place on the 12th of February in 1965, the 1964 title refers to when SAFA banded together to organise the rides and insure sufficient media coverage was had. The students’ aim was to draw attention to the poor health, education, and housing that the Aborigines had, to point out and deteriorate the social discrimination barriers that existed between the ‘whites’ and Aborigines, and to support and encourage Aborigines to resi...
This presentation is about Charles Perkins, an Australian Aboriginal Activist. This presentation will outline who he is, why he promoted change, his roles, the outcomes of his actions and the people who benefited from his actions. This presentation focuses on Charles Perkins actions gaining rights and freedoms for Australian Aboriginals, mainly focusing on the freedom ride. Australian Aboriginal activist, Charles Perkins, had a significant impact and effect on the rights and freedoms of Indigenous Australians mainly in NSW but also Australian wide from 1963 to 1972 through organising the freedom riders and participating in other organisations and activities for Australian Aboriginals. Charles Perkins has done many things to help in the fight for rights and freedom for Australian Aboriginals. One of the main things he did was organise and lead the freedom ride in 1965. There were various reasons as to why Charles Perkins promoted change, but that fact that he experienced the discrimination and poor treatment of Aboriginals first hand definitely made his motives stronger. He had many roles in the fight for rights and freedom for Aboriginals, but one of his main positions was co-organising and leading the freedom ride in 1965. The main outcomes of his actions, was he helped gain rights and freedom for the Indigenous Australians.
...be enforced. Olds wrote, "The Freedom Riders were an integrated group of highly motivated, well-disciplined, dedicated people" and the Rides were "effective as a demonstrations of strength, a source of leverage for influential coalitions, and a means for focusing public attention on the issue of civil rights" (18). Those involved single-handedly expanded the freedoms of all African-American citizens to travel throughout the United States. During the rides, the civil rights struggle reached a level of intensity that even sit-ins had managed to avoid" but though times were turbulent, the rides were effective, furthering the advancement of the African American people (Arsenault 3).. Through the most violent and fearsome events, the Freedom Riders stood firm to their cause which led them to be one of the most influential and effective parts of the Civil Rights Movement.