Methods used by a civil rights activist/group to achieve change for Aboriginals – Charles Perkins and SAFA Flashcards
how did the civil rights activists achieve change for aboriginals
Charles Perkins and SAFA looked directly to the non-violent but direct approach of Martin Luther King to create awareness of the plight of Aboriginal people. Their method was strategic and deliberate. Go straight to the most racist towns in rural Australia where most Aboriginals were subject to racism but which mainstream Australia had little idea of.
inspiration?
SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference led by MLK) - why was the church important in America? It was where black Americans came together.
what is core and sncc
CORE and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) - black and white students and protestors involved in the US Freedom Rides. Engaging in civil disobedience by travelling to the most racist cities and states in the deep south to test the new laws banning segregation in education and public transport on buses, such as Brown vs Board of Education and Montgomery. Places such as Selma, where black voting percentages were tiny.
what is safa
SAFA - Student Action for Aborigines. (University of Sydney, created and led by Charles Perkins, one of the first Aboriginal students of the University and a professional soccer player who had travelled abroad and witnessed people of colour treated better than they were in Australia. Perkins and white students such as Jim Spiegelman were inspired by the Freedom Rides in the USA, but it also reminded and challenged them to do something about the same issues that were happening in their own country. Watching the events of the US movement on the new technology of television had a powerful effect. The problem in Australia, though, was that there was little awareness of the treatment and conditions of Aboriginal Australians in the regional and rural places that most of them lived in, as opposed to the cities of Australia. Thus, they would travel to north-western NSW to challenge the same issues, to investigate the poverty and discrimination, but also to directly challenge racist segregation practices. The aim was to firstly create publicity by provoking a reaction and they had media travel with them to photograph and film the footage.
what were the two main showdowns
There were 2 main showdowns, the fight to allow veteran Aboriginal soldiers to go into the RSL at Walgett where sit-ins were used and the right for Aboriginal children to be able to use the baths and pools at Moree, and not be embarrassingly segregated.
what was the effect of these freedom rides
Photographs and media reports were beamed across Australia, shocking many Australians and helping to contribute to the 1967 Referendum victory. It did not solve much of the racism and discriminatory attitudes but it was an important start in holding a mirror to Australia’s own crisis and denial of human rights and freedoms.
