Freedom Rides Essay

The Underground Railroad was one of the most remarkable protests against slavery in United States history. It was a fight for personal survival, which many slaves lost in trying to attain their freedom. Slaves fought for their own existence in trying to keep with the traditions of their homeland, their homes in which they were so brutally taken away from. In all of this turmoil however they managed to preserve the customs and traditions of their native land. These slaves fought for their existence and for their cultural heritage with the help of many people and places along the path we now call the Underground Railroad.

This essay briefly discusses the similarities and differences of the ‘Australian and American Freedom Rides’ history. Throughout the essay, there is a discussion on what the reasons were for the protest of the Freedom Rides. It also points out the duration of the protest and the major locations where they were held. The essay also shows the different reactions to the protest and the influential behaviour it results in.

It is a commonly known issue in Australia that as a minority group, the people of Indigenous Australian ethnicity have always been treated, or at least perceived, differently to those of non-Indigenous disposition. This can be applied to different contexts such as social, economic, education, or in relation to this essay – legal contexts. Generally, Indigenous Australians face issues such as less opportunity for formal education, less access to sufficient income, more health issues, and higher rates of imprisonment (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service

In comparison to the white people’s rights, the Aboriginals had next to little or no rights. Charles had the desire to make a change in the world and therefore created the Freedom Ride in 1965. The Freedom Ride consisted of thirty white students from university who planned to take a bus and travel New South Wales. During this journey, they intended to investigate the living conditions of Indigenous people in all aspects of life: health, education and housing. They wanted to study the different races and their interactions with each other in Australia, and the level of racism and protest against it. They travelled to the town of Dubbo, where Aboriginal people were locked up for singing in their language. In theatres in Walgett, the black people were seated in the front, while the white people had the privilege to enjoy from the top seats. If the black people were to sit in the whites’ allocated spots, they were tossed down and the police were called. In Moree, Indigenous people were restricted from using local pools and in Bowraville, segregation was the norm. While the Freedom Riders travelled to these places, they were mistreated. In Moree for example, the female students of the Freedom Ride were spat on and Charles Perkins himself had an egg thrown at him, and was punched. Despite such difficulties, they

A group of people risked their life to obtain equality for African Americans in the south. The Freedom Riders were a group of around 13 people. Most of them were African Americans but there were always a few white skinned people in the group as well. There was no set leader for the Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders rode interstate buses into the Southern United States. The south was referred to as the most segregated part of the U.S. The main goal of the Freedom Riders was to desegregate and become “separate but equal.” They had also set out to defy the Jim Crow Laws. The Freedom Riders had a little bit of help from two court cases: Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia and Boynton v. Virginia. These court cases ruled that it was

Once the group had finished visiting these towns and had ended their journey Charles Perkins reported what had happened to a crowd of approximately two hundred at the 1965 Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islands conference in Canberra. The responses after this conference were mainly positive and because of Charles Perkins’ the NSW Aboriginal Welfare Board had announced they would spend sixty-five thousand pounds on more housing in Moree for the Aboriginals. The Australian Freedom Riders had caused many debates all across Australia which had then caused the 1967 Referendum which got rid of a law in the constitution that had stated ‘laws can be made for the people of any race, other than the Aboriginal race in any state, for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws’. The law was changed and removed the section ‘other than the Aboriginal race’ this was a positive change as it meant laws could be made in favour of the Aboriginals which could help protect them. Another positive aspect that came out of the

Primary Source that was taken in 1928, Children are removed by the Aborigines Protection Board from the Gully at Katoomba. They’re either transferred to Bakersville Home or to Bomaderry UAM Home.

During the ongoing visits on ‘The Freedom Rides’ around the many towns like Bowraville, Boggabilla and Moree, the students had observed the kind of segregation and refusal of service the Aboriginal people faced in places like pools, clubs and shops. In reference to the image in source 3, the itinerary showed the expected dates for stops, demonstrations and surveys and when they would return back to Sydney which would altogether take place over 2 weeks. The students filmed and filed reports to the ABC of the kind of treatment and racism Aboriginal people received, for instance their living conditions and locations which Charlie Perkins in source 4 describes as ‘at river banks, shanties, huts or at the end of a road where there’s (a) rubbish tip’. The main reason of their filming was to show people the truth on what was happening in country towns and to not believe what the news covered Australia to be; that racism did not exist. The publicity gained from The Freedom Rides raised awareness of the racism in Australia and influenced the 1967 Referendum and other campaigns in the future with similar purposes.

Stanley Nelson chronicles the journey of a group of individuals, known as the Freedom Riders, whom fought for the rights of African Americans to have the same amenities and access as the Caucasians. The purpose of the Freedom Rides was to deliberately violate the Jim Crow laws of the south that prohibited blacks and whites from mixing together on buses and trains. Expectedly, many of the Freedom Riders were beaten and the majority was imprisoned. This carried on for the majority of 1961 and culminated with the Interstate Commerce Commission issuing an order to end the segregation in bus and rail stations. Nelson encapsulates this entire movement in about two hours. At the end of the two hours, the viewer is emotionally tied to the

This questioning led to scheduling the ‘fact-finding’ trip to rural New South Wales towns, so students could see and experience the living conditions of Aboriginal people. Evolving into the Freedom Ride, the trip including visits to: Walgett, Gulargambone, Kempsey, Bowraville and Moree. The students were shocked by the exact living condition in which Aboriginal people endured outside and in town, were repetitive bans from clubs, swimming pools and cafes as well as frequently denied service in shops and at local pubs. In particular, the students of SAFA exposed the racial discrimination practices at the “Walgett Returned Services League, the Moree Baths, the Kempsey Baths and the Bowraville picture theatre” ("Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957-1973", 2018). While questioning these practices, the students ensured all details of ralliess and hostile interviews were readily accessible on news broadcasts on both television and radio.

On May 4, 1961, a group of civil rights activist inclusive of some African Americans (there was thirteen in total) created the Freedom Riders. The Freedom Riders were a series of bus trips protesting segregation in the southern parts of the United States. Eight days later, in Rock Hill, South Carolina four riders were brutally attacked for trying to sit in a white only waiting area. The next day after reaching Atlanta, Georgia the riders split up to cover more ground. The first bus heading for Anniston, Alabama, and the other heading for Birmingham, Alabama.

"The Freedom Riders were remarkable, fearless Americans. They were extraordinary, ordinary people . . . young people who took the reins of history and wouldn't let go.” -Mark Samels, American Experience Executive Producer.

When the British moved in the west in 1815 (Flood, 2001 p. 97), Governor Macquarie came across the new settlement of Bathurst on Macquarie River approx. 150 miles west of Sydney (Flood, 2001 p. 97). The Wiradjuri people, numbering over 3000 people, spreading over 97, 000 km of central New South Wales (Flood, 2001 p. 97), which then eventually travelled to Bathurst region in 1820s (Blackburn, 2002 p. 140). Unfortunately, settlement around Bathurst displayed a Wiradjuri group led by Windradyne whom was a known aboriginal warrior and resistance leader for the Wiradjuri group (Buckett & Buckett, 2014 p. 46; Flood, 2006 p. 93). It was expressed how they believed that the settlers weren’t welcome due to how ‘it was their country, the water and land

Finally, the Aboriginals were treated with vast amounts of social inequality. In particular, the idea of social stratification is largely visible when it comes to looking at how the Aboriginals were treated in the school system. Social inequality occurs when a person’s attributes affect their access to socially valued resources (McClinchey 2012). Social stratification is a hierarchy that exists among social classes of people (McClinchey, 2012). Obviously the background that the Aboriginals have is the reason for them being discriminated against by the Caucasian people, and the Caucasian

During the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans sought to have their Constitutional Rights permitted. One form of protesting came forth in the form of the Freedom Rides. After slavery ended, many amendments and laws were created to ensure the rights of African Americans, but because of prejudices and racism, most of these were ignored. The Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Fergunson established "separate but equal" on interstate transportation in 1896, but in 1947 the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional. And although segregation was outlawed, Jim Crow laws still ruled the Deep South and “codified in law, sanctioned by the courts, and enforced by the ubiquitous threat of physical violence even more than legal reprisal" (Catsam