The Australian Freedom Ride Of 1964

The “Vote yes” campaign emphasized the problems with Australia's international reputation. Being counted for the census would eventually lead to better funding for the Indigenous people of Australia. Activist Charles Perkins lead the Freedom Rides in 1965. The “Vote yes”campaign was created on the publicity of Charles Perkins campaign showing the discrimination against the Aboriginal individuals. The politicians were influenced by the campaigns and the communities

The American Freedom Rides were motivated by the ‘Journey of Reconciliation’ in 1947, “led by civil rights activists Bayard Rustin and George Houser”1. The Freedom Rides in America involved riding a bus opposing the segregation of black and whites riding together in buses2.

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 Sky News report revealed that several protests turned violent with an Australian flag set alight in Sydney and Melbourne, and protesters likening the day to the bombing of Hiroshima.

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

Following, on May 4, 1961, a mixed group of 13 African Americans and white civil rights activist led the Freedom Rides (Freedom Rides?). Similar, to the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Freedom Rides traveled to various cities in the south to protest against segregation of the bus terminals. History.com staff concurs “the Freedom Rides, a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals.” The purpose of the freedom riders was to openly disobey the Jim Crow laws in the south in a nonviolent fashion. This was a dangerous journey, many of these people were beaten, arrested, and even the buses were destroyed. Yet, they persevered (“Freedom Riders: The Nashville Connection”). History.com staff, adds “The Freedom Riders, were recruited by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), a U.S. civil rights group, they departed from Washington D.C., and attempted to integrate facilities at bus terminals along the way in the Deep South.” African Americans would try to use the “whites only” bathrooms and counters, which attracted attention and violence (Freedom Rides). According to the history.com staff due to the efforts of the Freedom Rides, “in September 1961, the interstate Commerce Commission issued regulations prohibiting segregation in bus and train nationwide.” The

42. Freedom Riders tried to draw attention to the South’s refusal to integrate bus terminals.

In 1964 there was a protest outside the US consulate in Canberra that two thousand people had attended to protest about racial segregation and civil rights in the United States. Many people of the general public stated things such as if protesters are going to so much trouble why not protest about racial segregation within our own country. These comments had lead to the making of our own Australian Freedom Riders which were based on the American Freedom Riders who were making a difference with civil rights and discrimination in America. They travelled across America to raise awareness of the issues when it came to the African-American’s rights and they helped achieve equality. The Australian Freedom Riders helped in achieving freedom for

Freedom Riders - The freedom RIdes were a civil rights activist who rode interstate buses into the

During the period between 1965 and 2014, many campaigns involving Indigenous Australians were held to support their rights. The effectiveness and results of the campaigns from earlier years lead up to how Aboriginal people are treated today. The Freedom Rides was one of the first campaigns to be held within the time period and consisted of a group of university students promoting awareness of poor treatment of Indigenous Australians. The 1967 Referendum, which was influenced from the Freedom Rides, was the introduction of a law involving the Aboriginal people being included within the census and the government making laws

Charles Perkins was the elected leader of the Student Action For Aborigines. On the 12th of February 1965, Charles Perkins and Jim Spigelman led about 28 members of Student Action For Aborigines on a 14-day 3200-kilometre bus tour of new south wales. Their focus was the desegregation of leisure facilities. They publicised discrimination used non-violent direct action.

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

It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that riding the bus can get one hurt and killed and how non-volient acts can lead to so much hate and violence. The Freedom Rides help bring attention to national level. The level of violence is extreme in response to a non-violent movement. The white supremacy was trying its best to make the colored population inferior. The segregation is a symbol of fear and hate. The press and television is a big part in the success of the movement. They help shape the public opinion toward segregation. The media brought the problem to our attention through dramatic and often disturbing photos and reports.

“Freedom Riders” were a group of people, both black and white, who were civil rights activists from the North who “meant to demonstrate that segregated travel on interstate buses, even though banned by an I.C.C. Ruling, were still being enforced throughout much of the South” (The South 16). The Riders attempted to prove this by having a dozen or so white and black Freedom Riders board buses in the North and travel through Southern cities. This was all “a coldly calculated attempt to speed up integration by goading the South, forcing the Southern extremists to explode their tempers” ('Freedom Riders' 20). The author of the Newsweek article stated this as the Southern opinion of the reason for the Freedom Riders. The

The movie Freedom Riders was important to the civil rights movement, which occurred in the 1990s during time this movie took place. The aim of freedom rides “was to call attention to blatant violations of recent Supreme Court ruling against segregation in interstate commerce” (Henretta, Hinderaker, Edwards, Self). The civil rights movement was a fight for equality and police mortality. Freedom Writers takes place in the 1900s during the Watt’s Riot (LA civil rights movement). Blacks were fighting for equality and to be treated as equally as whites; they wanted less police brutality and they rioted for what they believed in.