The Freedom Rides in the U.S were one of the many events that further inspired Indigenous Australian activists and protesters to replicate events of their fellow activists in the U.S in Australia to bring equality to Indigenous Australian. . A major example of this are the Freedom Rides that took place in the segregated Southern States of the U.S that later took place in the rural state of NSW led by Charles Perkin and fellow student Jim Spiglem. He had led many peaceful protests around Australia for a push for recognition and equality for Indigenous Australians. Role of the media was a major one throughout the push for indigenous equality as well as for African Americans especially as the media gave large exposure of the injustices against the African-Americans and the Aborigines. This brought a big opportunity for the Indigenous Australians to surge in their cause for land rights and recognition of their ownership of the land. The freedom rides of the U.S were a enormous factor in bringing a push for activism, equality, recognition and peaceful protest for Indigenous Australians. This thesis will be further backed through the body paragraphs about the 1961 US Freedom Rides, the influence on Australian freedom rides and other peaceful protests and the influence on Aboriginal activism and Recognition.
On May 4, 1961, a group of 13 African-American and white civil rights activists launched the Freedom Rides, a series of bus trips through the American South to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals. Led by CORE Director James Farmer, the 13 riders (seven black, six white) left Washington, DC, on Greyhound and Trail ways buses. Although it had started in 1961 it followed on to other years to challenge the non-enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions Irene Morgan v. Commonwealth of Virginia (1946) and Boynton vs. Virginia (1960), which ruled that segregated public buses were unconstitutional. The southern U.S states of South Carolina, Alabama, Anniston, Birmingham and New Orleans were some of the more notable states the Freedom Rides had occurred in and some of the most brutal conflicts had occurred in these states. The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is a U.S. civil rights organization that played a pivotal role for African-Americans in the Civil Rights Movement. Founded in 1942, CORE was one of the "Big Four" civil rights organizations, along with the SCLC, the SNCC, and the NAACP.
The setup on the bus was to have at least one interracial pair sitting in adjoining seats, and at least one black rider sitting up front, where seats under segregation had been reserved for white customers. This was to show a strong sign of defiance but that defiance was met with strong consequences. The Freedom Riders had gone to Birmingham in an attempt to convince Greyhound bus company to let them use a bus. With pressure from Robert Kennedy, Greyhound agreed to let the Riders use a bus. The head of Alabama’s state highway patrol, Floyd Mann, agreed to give the Riders protection from Birmingham to Montgomery but this did not strategy for protection would not work. The Birmingham, Alabama, Police Commissioner, Bull Connor, played an extremely large role in the US Freedom rides together with Police Sergeant Tom Cook (an avid Ku Klux Klan supporter), organized violence against the Freedom Riders with local Ku Klux Klan chapters. The pair made plans to bring the Ride to an end in Alabama. They assured Gary Thomas Rowe, an FBI informer and member of Eastview Klavern #13 (the most violent Klan group in Alabama), that the mob would have fifteen minutes to attack the Freedom Riders without any arrests being made. The plan was to allow an initial assault in Anniston with a final assault taking place in Birmingham. On May 14, Mother's Day, in Anniston, a mob of Ku Klux Klansmen, attacked the first of the two buses (the Greyhound). The driver tried to leave the station, but was blocked until KKK members slashed its tires. The mob forced the crippled bus to stop several miles outside of town and then firebombed it. As the bus burned, the mob held the doors shut, intending to burn the riders to death. The mob beat the riders after they escaped the bus. The role of Police Chief Bull Connor was a very major and sinister one as of his failed attempts to try to stop the freedom rides in the state of Alabama. But where there is negative it has its opposite of positive and Bull Connor’s was no more than Martin Luther King Jr. The best known leader of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr was a prominent figure throughout the entire struggle for Civil Rights. King's support for CORE's Freedom Ride campaign was initially limited and cautious. At a reception held for the Freedom Riders in Atlanta, he passed on warnings of planned Klan violence ahead, telling the Riders, "You will never make it through Alabama." Later, after the Freedom Riders had made their way to Montgomery, AL, he spoke eloquently on behalf of their campaign to the national media and from the pulpit at First Baptist Church, just prior to its siege and firebombing. King was an active participant in strategy sessions over the next three days, as the Riders holed up in the Montgomery mansion of Dr. Richard Harris. However, King declined to become a Freedom Rider himself, disappointing several of the younger Riders but little did these riders know their action would inspire another racial group fighting for civil rights half way across the world.
"As news spread of the brutality faced by Freedom Riders in Anniston and Birmingham, Alabama, the American public had to make a choice: Would it support democracy or mob rule?”, Adam Strom, Facing History and Ourselves. This is a quote describing the situation of the early 1960’s in the U.S triggered by events of the Freedom Rides and these events not only inspired change in the U.S but with the news spreading of these events Indigenous Australian activists and protesters took example of these to start their own large scale protests.
It is only about half a century ago, a time still sharp in the minds of a baby boomer generation, that landmark battles were waged and won by Aboriginal people, for Aboriginal people. In the 1960s, Aboriginal people achieved citizenship, financial assistance, and equal pay, and won back rights to their land and rights to the preservation of their cultural heritage. One of the most defining events of the Aboriginal Civil Rights movement in Australia was the Freedom Rides that occurred in the rural regions of New South Wales. This event was greatly influenced by fellow civil rights activists in the U.S who had their own Freedom rides in 1961 to protest against segregation on public transport. In the early days of February 1965 a group of University of Sydney students organised a bus tour of western and coastal New South Wales towns. Their purpose was threefold. The students planned to draw public attention to the poor state of Aboriginal health, education and housing. Student Action for Aborigines, they were led by Charles Perkins, a young man who would become one of the most important Australian Aboriginal activists, as well as a leader in the Aboriginal community through his work as a politician and bureaucrat, as well as through his sporting achievements as a soccer player, coach and administrator. Perkins was often a controversial leader in the Aboriginal community. He was seen as a pioneering spokesman and bureaucrat, and was known for his determination and willingness to fight for what he believed in, which sometimes brought him into conflict with the government and other community leaders. His involvement in the 'Freedom Ride' through rural New South Wales in the early 1960s played a crucial role in bringing attention to the plight of rural Aboriginal people and showing that Aboriginal people could have effective political representation from within their own communities.
On 20 February 1965, Perkins and his party tried to enter the swimming pool at Moree, where the local council had barred Aboriginal people from swimming for 40 years since it had been opened. In response to this action the riders faced physical opposition from several hundred local white Australians, including community leaders, and were pelted with eggs and tomatoes. These events were broadcast across Australia, and under pressure from public opinion, the council eventually reversed the ban on Aboriginal swimmers. The Freedom Ride then moved on, but on the way out they were followed by a line of cars, one of which collided with the rear of their bus forcing them to return to Moree where they found that the council had reneged on their previous decision. The Freedom Ride included visits to Walgett, Gulargambone, Kempsey, Bowraville and Moree. Students were shocked at the living conditions which Aboriginal people endured outside the towns. In the towns Aboriginal people were routinely barred from clubs, swimming pools and cafes. The students demonstrated against racial discrimination practised at the Walgett Returned Services League, the Moree Baths, the Kempsey Baths and the Boraville picture theatre. The group had ensured that media coverage would be available at all times and with the searing wit, sharp tongue and keen appreciation of the media of Charles Perkins, the stories of the freedom rides always grabbed mass attention and coverage, aiding the cause of Perkins and his group greatly. This was a strategy used by their counterparts from the U.S as the African-Americans civil rights movement was greatly aided by the media as their coverage showed the injustices that took place. This is another example of how Australian activism was influenced by the US freedom rides.
The Aboriginal struggle to regain lands taken from them has a long history. Since 1846 when Aboriginal Tasmanians petitioned Queen Victoria, Indigenous people have been using the laws and the parliamentary system of government brought by the British in their attempts to regain land. The perfect example of this is the Wave Hill walk off. What started with wages rights changed to the fight for land rights. In August 1966, Aboriginal pastoral workers walked off the job on the vast Vesteys' cattle station at Wave Hill in the Northern Territory. At first they expressed their unhappiness with their poor working conditions and disrespectful treatment. Then it became more than that and slowly they became a beacon of hope for all Aboriginals trying to fight for land rights as they steered their protests towards the direction of land rights for Indigenous Australians. The tent embassy protest was peaceful and non-violent, and very effective. Petitions were created and argument never paused by the Aborigines. It wasn’t until the Government crated a new law banning camping on unleased Commonwealth land that violence was involved. Police moved in and forcibly removed tents, arresting the protestors. Within half a year, over 2000 Aboriginal people and other protestors had gathered at the embassy. Due to a loophole in the law, the embassy was able to be re-established and the tents were up once more. The Aboriginal Embassy became a landmark in history, signifying the first for land rights by Aboriginals. There are a growing number of tent embassies being put up around Australia, even now, as the protest is effective.
In conclusion, it is clear to see that Aboriginal activism and protest in Australia was greatly inspired by the 1961 US Freedom Rides. The US freedom rides not only inspired the Australian freedom rides but how they inspired Australian activism on a whole new level. Significant roles in the US Freedom Rides were played by Martin Luther King and Bull Connor, influencing roles in Australia such as Charles Perkins and the Student Action for Aborigines group in general. The U.S freedom rides showed endurance, bravery and the power of non-violence which inspired protests in Australia from the freedom rides with Charles Perkin to the Wave Hill walk off. Both the U.S and Australian protests were highly effective in bringing in civil rights for their respected race groups.