Freedom Rides
How significant were the Freedom Rides and the Tent Embassy and what has been the long term impact on reconciliation in Australia?
Rights for Aborigines were very limited compared to those for immigrated Australians until very recently. A number of events in the 20th century helped bring more rights to Aborigines. Two of these events were the Freedom Rides of 1965 and the Tent Embassy, first seen in 1972.
The Freedom Rides of 1965 took place in New South Wales from the 12th to the 26th of February in that year. A group of university students called SAFA, Student Action for Aborigines, planned a trip to go around New South Wales and see how Aborigines were being treated in small towns. The students were inspired to start SAFA because of protests going on in the USA. The group had between 29 …show more content…
The housing was better but Aboriginals weren’t allowed in the public swimming pool, so the students protested for 25 minutes to let some in. Later that day a meeting was held in the Memorial Hall where the students were able to get 88 votes to 10 to remove the segregation in the swimming pool. The following day SAFA arrived at Boggabilla, the border between the homes of the Bigambul and Gamilaraay people. There they found the Aborigines living in overcrowded weatherboard houses with no gas or electricity and often no windows. The police in Boggabilla came often, “to find out who had been drinking. Also they ‘did what they liked’ with the women,” (Ann Curthoy’s diary from the Freedom Rides). On Thursday the 18th, the students went to Tenterfield, home to the Marbal people, and found out that the segregation in Moree had been reinstated, so they decided to go back. During the two days that SAFA was in Moree again, the locals got violent and the police was told to remove SAFA from the pool gates, where they had started their protest. Eventually the mayor of Moree came and officially broke the ban on
Rights for Aborigines were very limited compared to those for immigrated Australians until very recently. A number of events in the 20th century helped bring more rights to Aborigines. Two of these events were the Freedom Rides of 1965 and the Tent Embassy, first seen in 1972.
The Freedom Rides of 1965 took place in New South Wales from the 12th to the 26th of February in that year. A group of university students called SAFA, Student Action for Aborigines, planned a trip to go around New South Wales and see how Aborigines were being treated in small towns. The students were inspired to start SAFA because of protests going on in the USA. The group had between 29 …show more content…
The housing was better but Aboriginals weren’t allowed in the public swimming pool, so the students protested for 25 minutes to let some in. Later that day a meeting was held in the Memorial Hall where the students were able to get 88 votes to 10 to remove the segregation in the swimming pool. The following day SAFA arrived at Boggabilla, the border between the homes of the Bigambul and Gamilaraay people. There they found the Aborigines living in overcrowded weatherboard houses with no gas or electricity and often no windows. The police in Boggabilla came often, “to find out who had been drinking. Also they ‘did what they liked’ with the women,” (Ann Curthoy’s diary from the Freedom Rides). On Thursday the 18th, the students went to Tenterfield, home to the Marbal people, and found out that the segregation in Moree had been reinstated, so they decided to go back. During the two days that SAFA was in Moree again, the locals got violent and the police was told to remove SAFA from the pool gates, where they had started their protest. Eventually the mayor of Moree came and officially broke the ban on