-
The Day of Mouring
The day of mourning was a protest held by the Aboriginal Australians on January 26th 1938, in the Australian Hall, Sydney. It was held on Australia Day after the 150th year of being treated unequally and the British seizure of their land that was rightfully theirs. -
The Day of Mourning
The protest was to try and push for a policy to give the Aborigines equal rights and full citizen status within the white community. It is relevant to the 1967 referendum because it was an appeal for the basic human rights of the Aboriginal people. -
Brown vs Board of Education
Brown vs Board of Education was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court decided that the separation of black and white students was unconstitutional. The case was unanimous, winning 9 – 0. It was argued on the 9th of December, 1952, then finally decided on the 17th of May, 1954. It was a major victory for the civil rights of the black Americans. -
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus
On a December night, 1955, Rosa Parks, an ordinary African American girl, sat in the first row of ‘coloured seats’ on the bus. As the bus filled, she, and three other African Americans were asked to move down towards the back of the bus. The three others complied, Rosa did not. She was on her way home from work as a department store seamstress and was tired. So when the bus driver got out of his seat, marched down the bus and told her to move, she simply stated ‘no.’ -
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus
With such a small and simple word, Parks started one of the biggest Civil Rights movements ever known. It was none other than a small town minister named Martin Luther King, who involved himself stating his intentions were clear, to allow black passengers to be treated with courtesy. Flying were released throughout the city calling for a boycott. After the bus company lost thousands of dollars, the Supreme Court ruled in favour that segregated busing was unconstitutional. -
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus
The Montgomery bus boycott triggered a firestorm in the South. Across the region, blacks resisted "moving to the back of the bus." Similar actions flared up in other cities. The boycott put Martin Luther King Jr. in the national spotlight. He became the acknowledged leader Civil Rights Movement. -
Little Rock Central School
It was not long before the whole nation got involved, the subject contained much speculation and debate but in the end the high school was overturned and forced to desegregate. -
Little Rock Central High
Little Rock Central High was a highly segragater American school in 1957, located in Arkansaw. It denied the entry of nine African-American students just becuase of their race. It was such a controversial act at the time becuase according to the U.S. Supreme Court all schools were allowed to integration. The nine individuals who were denied by the school in the coming weeks were escorted by army protection. -
The Signing of the Petition (part 1)
This petition was written by the newly found Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement and was one of many put forawrd throughout the ten year struggle that eventually lead up to the referendum. With 25,000 signatures collected over 3 months, this petition was presented to the House of Representatives by Gordon Bryant, who became Minister of Aboriginal affairs in 1972. -
Signing of the Petition (part 2)
This was the first of many petitions which were run by the federal Council of Aboriginal Advancement in order achieve a referendum, so that the Goverment would accept responsibility of Aboriginal affairs. This petition was an important factor in the struggle for a referendum, becuase it was this, as well as one written a year previously, which lead thw white Australian community to the fact that 'Aboriginal Resedents of Australia suffer under disabilities, politics, social and economic. -
Commonwealth Electoral act 1962
The commonwealth electoral act 1962 gave the opportunity (not compulsory) to Indigenous Australians to enrol and vote in federal elections. Even though enrolling and voting was optional it was illegal under Commonwealth legislation to persuade or encourage anyone from indigenous Australian heritage to vote. Soon after this act was let through Indigenous Australians were to be counted in Australia’s Census for the first time ever. -
I Had A Dream
On August 24, 1963 Martin Luther King delivered his famous 'I had a dream' speech. He takes a stand for Negro's discussing on how they are not free, not equal. The speech was lauded after and people began to realise the reality, regarding the segregation of the blacks and whites that was still present in society. 250,000 people had gathered to hear his speech and many of them were persuaded by Luther's powerful speech. -
I Had A Dream
Luther's speech had a significant role in reducing the inequality between the Negro's and the whites. His speech also helps others realise that two of their own societies had segregation, such as the Europeans in Australia and the Aboriginals. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The act impacted the Australian public’s view on segregation because the Americans were Australia’s new and strong ally, who possessed the publics respect. The act caused many Australians to change their opinion on civil rights in Australia which is why it’s so significant. -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The civil rights act of 1964 is a piece of civil rights legislation in the United States, which outlaws discrimination based on race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin. The civil rights act played a significant role in ending the public segregation in America. It also played an important role in leading to the voting rights act and the fair housing act of 1968. -
Freedom Ride (part 1)
In 1965 Aborigines did not have access to a local Goverment swimming pool in Moore. It was only once the freedom rides ocurred that aboriginals were allowed to swim in public pools. The freedom ride was successful in bringing attention to the poor state of the Aboriginal people, mostly due to the media attention they gained. -
Freedom Ride (part 2)
Another outcome they accomplised was decreasing the social gap and discriminatory barriers between Aborigines and white people. The freedom ride is significant in showing that there was movement towards aboriginal rights and that they were making advances. -
Gurindji Strike
Gurindji strike was a strike by 200 stockmen, house servants and families in August 1966 at Wave Hill cattle station in Kalkarindji, Northern Territory. The cattle station was founded in 1883, and then in 1914 it what bought by a British pastoral company called Vesteys. From there onwards, Aborigines were the subject to extremely cheap labour. They would have to work for very little or no money at all, be provided with appalling accommodation and very little food. -
Gurindji Strike
This was because they were pushed off the land that they originally owned, and they had nowhere to go. Indigenous employees complained about the treatment for many years, but it took over a decade to finally come to terms with the treatment. An inquiry was held in the 1930s, but nothing was done until there was a seven-year strike on 23rd of August, 1966. -
Gurindji Strike
The strike was led by Vincent Lingiari with the workers and their families. The protest was a mix between getting the land back, increasing the wages to a respectable amount and fair treatment. The strike relates to the 1967 referendum because they both were for the rights of the Aboriginals, and this was played a major part towards the referendum taking place because the strike started the year before, exposing the lack of rights of the Aboriginal people at this time. -
Jim Crow Laws
Through the 1880’s to the 1960’s, the ‘Jim Crow laws’, (named after a black character shown in minstrel shows) were enforced in a majority of the American states as a way of segregation, stating that legal punishment could be imposed on people consorting with another race. The most common of these laws, were those regarding interracial marriage, and the ordering of businesses, both public and private to keep black and white clients separate. -
Jim Crow Laws
Because of these ‘Race Laws,’ the black community began to set up committees and started to put forward Civil rights acts. Although these early acts had little effect, they lead the way for more and more to be made and put forward, leading up to the signing of the petition that occurred in 1958. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King was shot on Thursday the 4th of April, 1968, in the city of Memphis, Tennessee. King was standing on his balcony at the time, and was shot by 40 year old escaped fugitive, who later confessed to the crime. King’s assassination lead to mass riots throughout the United States, with over 40 casualties, spread throughout 100 cities. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King
Though blacks and whites alike mourned King’s passing, the killing in some ways served to widen the rift between black and white Americans, as many African American’s saw King’s assassination as a rejection of their pursuit of equality through the nonviolent resistance he had championed. -
Assassination of Martin Luther King
His murder, radicalized many moderate African-American activists, fuelling the growth of the Black Power movement and the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s and early 1970s, which lead to some of the most famous writers of the time to speak out such as Eldridge Cleaver and his best seller ‘ Soul on Ice.’ -
National Referendum
- The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:- ...(xxvi) The people of any race, other than the aboriginal people in any State, for whom it is necessary to make special laws.
- In reckoning the numbers of the people of the Commonwealth, or of a State or other part of the Commonwealth, aboriginal natives should not be counted.
-
National Referendum
On the 27th of May, 1969, a national Referendum was held in order to remove certain phrases written into the constitution that discriminated against the Aboriginal people of Australia. The sections of the Constitution under scrutiny were: -
National Referendum
There was an overwhelming vote for this action to pass, with 90.77 per cent of people voting against the discrimination. And so, on the 10th of August, when the changes were given royal assent, they became laws.
