The American Civil Rights Movement`s Influence on Australia: Change to Aboriginal Rights and Freedoms
Since the discovery and European immigration of Australia, Aboriginal people have been racially misrepresented, prejudiced and discriminated against in Australia’s society and law.
They have experienced many injustices against their people such as the stolen generation (1910-70) where racially mixed aboriginal youth were taken and taught only western customs. The American civil rights movement (1955-68) and civil rights activism greatly influenced Australia to begin movements for aboriginal people’s rights. It led to great strides for recognition of the atrocities they have experienced. Although there are still many societal, educational, and criminal challenges faced at aboriginal people, there has been a success at achieving rights for aboriginal people due to civil activism in Australia and America during the 1950s and 1960s.
The civil rights movement began after the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which declared all people as equal with protected rights and sparked civil rights activism. The modern civil rights movement began with Rosa Parks, an African American female activist who was arrested after she refused to give up her seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama (1955). This small rebellious act against segregation began the movement that would test anti-segregation laws in America and socially liberate the African American population. The integration of nine African American students into Little Rock Central High School (1957) tested anti-segregation legislation towards equal education of African American youth and saw a dramatic negative reaction from white communities. The children were religiously harassed by white students which gained the attention of President Dwight Eisenhower who employed federal troops to guard the African American students.
Later in 1961, a group of activists conducted freedom rides which were a series of “bus trips through the Southern States of America to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals”. The Freedom Rides challenged the Jim Crow laws of the south and proved these laws were unconstitutional and discriminatory toward African Americans. The American civil rights movement resulted in the largest protest for minority rights where 250,000 protestors took part in the “The March on Washington” which took place on August 28, 1963. A key figure who spoke at the protest was pastor Martin Luther King Junior who had started his civil rights activism in 1957- coordinating non-violent protests against segregation/racial discrimination. The American civil rights movement left a lasting impact on the rights of minorities and later influenced Australia’s civil rights movement.
The American Civil Rights movement motivated many of Australia’s demonstrations in its civil rights movement (1957-67). Aboriginal communities in Australia were ignored by white citizens who acted oblivious to the poor conditions which Aboriginals were living in, but the widespread coverage of the American civil rights movement encouraged Australian people to look at their own nation and become aware of what was happening to the Aboriginals.
Influenced by how successful they were in America, Australia had Freedom Rides in 1965 where students from the University of Sydney planned to draw public attention to the poor state of Aboriginal education, housing, and health. The Freedom Rides exposed the low living standard of aboriginal communities and the segregation in western/coastal towns of New South Wales. The Freedom Rides planned and executed SAFA (Student Act For Aboriginals) who was led by Charles Perkins (the first aboriginal graduate of Sydney University), sparked outrage amongst the Australian population for Aboriginal people to be treated significantly better. Many media platforms in America were vocal about the protests, riots, and movements to protect African American rights, which encouraged Australia to be vocal when publicizing its demonstrations. This ensured the public was conscious of the raw truth of how Aboriginals were forced to live. Due to America’s influence on Australia’s civil rights movement, activists found effective ways of addressing racial discrimination in Australia.
The Australian civil rights movement prompted Aboriginal people to gain constitutional rights and regain rights to their land. The events of the Australian civil rights movement, such as the 1965 Freedom Rides, created outroar across Australia for aboriginal people to be treated equally under the law so on May 27th, 1967, a referendum was held to repeal section 127 of the constitution and remove “other than the aboriginal race in any state” of section 57.
With an approval vote of 90.77% meant Aboriginal people were considered the same as every other Australian citizen and marked the end of Australia’s civil rights movement but the progress didn’t stop there. In 1992 during the Eddie Mabo case, the High Court revoked the term “terra nullius” (no man's land) and the native title act was passed. Australia’s civil rights movement paved the way to Aboriginal people’s rights to be respected and ownership to their native land restored.
Although many actions have been taken to amend the crimes/injustices committed against Aboriginal people, there are still barriers that restrict Aboriginal people from having full freedom and respect of rights. Achieving change for Aboriginal rights has taken many years but thanks to small acts of civil rights activism, many changes have occurred not only legislatively but socially and politically. After Kevin Rudd’s rise to power in 2007, there was finally some hope for reconciliation, which was achieved in 2008, with Rudd addressing parliament with a speech of reconciliation. The national apology was a major step in reconciliation but still, more must be done to improve the poverty, mental/physical health, life expectancy, and social/political marginalization of Aboriginal people. Aboriginals and whites in terms of living conditions, health, economic prosperity and other areas. As of 2016 Aboriginal children experienced 1.7 times more malnutrition, the life expectancy for aboriginal men and women was 10 years younger than the non-indigenous population, and in September 2017 Aboriginals made up 27% of inmates despite only being 2% of the population. Despite all these successes, there still remains a deep divide between While Aboriginal rights have come a long way this past half-century, there is still a lot more that needs to be done to ensure total economic and social integration of Aboriginals into white Australian society and achieve total equality.
The American civil rights movement greatly influenced Australia’s civil rights movement and brought great change to Aboriginal rights and freedoms but was not entirely successful at equalizing Aboriginal people to the rest of Australia’s population. Even with all the progress made during the civil rights movement, there is still inequality for Aboriginal people in Australia. Although America's influence was very important to the many improvements to Aboriginal Australians’ lives today. With more support, policies, education intervention, and national support the lives of Aboriginal people can continue to progress and flourish.
References
- Australianstogether.org.au. 2020. Australians Together | Indigenous Disadvantage In Australia. [online] Available at: [Accessed 4 April 2020].
- HISTORY. 2020. Civil Rights Movement Timeline. [online] Available at: [Accessed 4 April 2020].
- GradesFixer. 2020. Understanding The Civil Rights Movement: America Vs. Australia: [Essay Example], 1006 Words Gradesfixer. [online] Available at: [Accessed 4 April 2020].
- Nma.gov.au. 2020. Fights For Civil Rights | National Museum Of Australia. [online] Available at: [Accessed 4 April 2020].
- Conti, L., Easton, M., Wilson, J., Carrodus, G., Delany, T. and Wilson, A., 2017. Oxford Big Ideas Humanities And Social Sciences 10. Melbourne: Oxford University Press Australia.
