CHARLIE PERKINS AND THE FREEDOM RIDERS

CHARLIE PERKINS AND THE FREEDOM RIDERS

One event that was instrumental in making the Australian public aware of the discrimination that continued against Aborigines in the 1960s was the 1965 Freedom Ride.

During the 1960s groups of American college students organised bus trips around the USA to expose the continuing discrimination against African Americans.  They wanted to help African Americans to achieve the freedom to be treated the same as white Americans. These tips were called “Freedom Rides.”

In Australia in February 1965 a group of 31 Sydney University students and one journalist, under the banner “The Student action for aborigines Council” departed on a bus journey through north-western NSW. The purpose of trip was to highlight discrimination suffered by Indigenous Australians. The group was led by Charles Perkins and Jim Spiegelman and supported by the Reverend Ted Noffs of the Wayside Chapel in Sydney.

Jim Spiegelman became the chief Justice on NSW (the most senior judge) in May 1998.

Top of Form

 Give 5 examples of the “colour bar” Freedom Rides found.

Answer True or False to these questions

The Walgett RSL Club barred indigenous people form membership. True

 Some Walgett citizens welcomed the Freedom Riders with flowers True

In Moree Freedom riders protested outside the swimming pool False

As a result all Aboriginal children were allowed to swim in the pool at any time. True

Moree resident pelted the Freedom riders with eggs and fruit when they returned True

The Freedom Riders used Civil Disobedience tactics such as blocking the entrance to the pool in Moree. True

Use the words in the box to fill in the gaps in the passage below:

	conflict	‘Boong’	Federal Advancement for Aborigines	soccer
discriminated	white miner	fitter and turner	white circles	Arlturga
education	Freedom Rides	Jesse Jackson	Liverpool	South Australian

Charles Perkins was born in Arlturga in 1936. His mother Hetti was from the Arrente people near Alex Springs. Her father was a white miner. His father was a kangaroo hunter who also has indigenous family on his mother’s side. From 1945 to 1952 Perkins continued his earlier at an Anglican school as a resident. . Perkins school years were full of conflict and at age 16 he was forced to leave school and obtained an apprenticeship as a at the British Tube Mills. He was often referred to there as a “Boong”  and was against in other ways. Although Perkins felt that his schooling provided him with discipline and independence, it also robbed him of a sense of identity and community.Mixing in the school’s Perkins noted that white girls would not dance with him and that white males taunted him. He gained some acceptance through his exceptional skills, but felt that the acceptance came from ethnic soccer clubs. In 1957 and 58 he played for and Manchester United in England.  When he returned to Australia he played for the Adelaide Croatia team.