Freedom Rides Flashcards
What was the aim of the Freedom Ride?
To raise awareness of racial discrimination in NSW rural towns
To help Aboriginal people realise they were no second class citizens and didn’t have to take the racism and racist practices
To protest segregation
In 1965, Aboriginal people were:
not citizens
dispossessed from their land
living on reserves = no plumbing electricity etc.
suffering racism in country towns = segregation in swimming pools, cinemas, not served in cafes etc.
Who organised the bus tour of rural NSW towns?
Charles Perkins, one of the first aboriginal university students.
How many students accompanied him?
29 university students from Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA) accompanied him
What did the students do?
Surveyed aboriginals in the towns about living conditions.
What were some of the aboriginal discriminations they witnessed?
Town of Moree, Indigenous children banned from using public swimming pool.
Bowraville, cinema partitioned.
Walgett, veterans only allowed into the RSL (Returned soldier league) only on ANZAC day
What did they do after witnessing those discriminations?
In Walgett they protested at the RSL club
What were the outcomes?
national and international media coverage of the plight (bad situation) of Aboriginals in rural towns.
raised awareness in urban Australia of the situation of Aboriginals in rural towns.
Stirred discussions of Aboriginal affairs around Australia.
Increased pressure for national reform
What did they give to the Aborigines?
They gave them hope. They stirred their imagination and desire for human rights.
