Charles Perkins's Contribution To The Civil Rights Movement

Charles Perkins
On the 12 of February, 1965, a small group of Sydney University students arrived at their first stop on their now historic journey to Aboriginal communities within NSW. They arrived at the home of the Eora people. Just before they arrived this photo was taken by a member of the party. In center frame is Charles Perkins, the leader of the group. This photo shows how few people actually came on the bus rides and the uncertainty about the reception that they would receive. The use of black and white photography emphasises the issues of racial differences and human rights. The photo reveals separation, isolation, fear and the journey into the unknown.

Charles Perkins is attributed as one of the most important contributors to the freedom rides, which in turn is one of the most important parts of the Australian Civil Rights Movement, showing the average Australian how badly treated Aborigines actually were. He and his group publicised the segregation and mistreatment of Aborigines through bringing the media to locations such as Walgett’s RSL, where the manager was recorded

as saying he would never allow an Aboriginal into his establishment. Charles Perkins later on became a public servant as a Senior Research Officer with the Office of Aboriginal Affairs.

The United States also had similar student run freedom rides, designed to protest the mistreatment of African-Americans.

Martin Luther King
On the 28th of August, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr delivered his infamous speech to over 250,000 civil rights activists from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington protests. This photo was taken just before the speech.

Martin Luther King Jr’s work for the United States Civil Rights movement, especially his iconic speech, is considered some of the most important contributions to the CRM.

Martin Luther organised the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycotts, the albany movement, the birmingham campaign, and most importantly, the March on Washington. On December 1st, 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus. This kicked off the Bus Boycotts, which ended in the arrest of Martin Luther King, and the conclusion of the Browder v. Gale case, which ended segregation on Montgomery’s busses. The March on Washington called for and end of segregation within public schools, laws prohibiting racial discrimination in employment, protection of civil workers from police brutality, and a $2 (~$15 today) minimum wage for all workers. The protest was successful, and helped bring civil rights to the

US.

An equivalent to Martin Luther King in Australia would potentially by Charles Perkins, a student activist who organised the Student Action for Aborigines and freedom rides movement.
Australian Freedom Rides
This picture is from the Australian Freedom Rides, organised by the Student Action For Aborigines organisation, the head of which was Charles Perkins. This photo was taken in February 1965, at the end of their first journey. During the ride they generated lots of media attention and controversy.

These freedom rides helped raise awareness and support for the entire SAFA organisation, and turned Charles Perkins into a national figure for the Aboriginal Rights movement. The rides were organised after their protest in 1964 against the racial segregation in the United States. They were told that they should look in their own backyard for change. This led to the trip in 1965 that had the dual purpose of raising awareness and researching aboriginal conditions. The freedom rides showed average Australian how discriminated Aborigines really were. One of the most remembered points was when the vice-president of the RSL in Walgett was caught on tape exclaiming that he would never allow an Aboriginal to become a member.

The Australian Freedom Rides are much like the United States ones, in that they were purposed towards research and raising awareness.
United States Freedom Rides
From May until November 1961 more than 400 white and black americans traveled through the deep south on desegregated buses and trains in order to promote equality. This photo was taken early on in the trip by a member of the Mississippi Public Broadcasting Station.

The freedom riders were protesting the non enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions of Boynton v. Virginia and Irene Morgan v. the Commonwealth of Virginia that ruled that segregated busses were unconstitutional. These freedom rides helped further raise awareness of inequality, even within the government, by showing that even though legally minorities were protected against discrimination those laws were still not enforced. The group challenged the beliefs of many people in the south by traveling through the cities while sitting as a mixed racial group. The riders and the violent reaction they provoked boosted the credibility of the American Civil Rights Movement.

These freedom rides mimic the Australian ones, although these were solely designed as a protest and awareness campaign, whereas the Australian one was awareness campaign and research trip.
Mabo v Queensland

On June 3rd, 1992 the Mabo v Queensland court case was decided in the Canberra High Courts. The courts sided with Mabo. This photo was taken by filmmaker Trevor Graham, who at the time was following the events that led up to conclusion. This photo is of three supporters of Mabo, after hearing the news of the conclusion.

Mabo v Queensland was a landmark high court decision that for the first time ever recognised the native title in Australia, and dismissed the doctrine of Terra Nullius. This decision overruled the previous cases revolving around native title and Terra Nullius, most notably the case of Milirrpum v Nabalco Pty Ltd (1971), which contrarily rejected the native title. The case itself was brought to the high courts by Eddie Mabo, David Passi, and James Rice. A lawyer originally approached Mabo after a 1981 speech given at a land rights conference held at James Cook University. His speech covered the land inheritance system on Murray Island, and its significance in terms of the Australian common law doctrine. Five judgments were delivered by the High Courts. They agreed that there was a concept of native title at common law, the source of native title was the traditional connection to or occupation or the land, the nature and content of native title was determined by the character of the connection or occupation under the traditional laws or customs, and that native title could be extinguished by the valid exercise of governmental powers provided a clear and plain intention to do so was manifest. This judgement was supported by all judges except Justice Dawson.

Like the American civil rights movement the Australian civil rights movement is largely supported by land mark cases such as Mabo v Queensland and Brown v Board of Education.
Brown v Board of Education
In September 1954 Fort Myer Elementary School, located on Fort Myers Beach, Florida, introduced desegregation classes. This photo was taken on their first day of class together by a newspaper reporter for Corbis Media.

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark United States Supreme Court case where the Courts declared that public school separating black and white students into different school was unconstitutional because, under the constitutional ruling of “separate but equal” established in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, that because of the fact that a minority was in itself a minority, they would always feel and be disadvantaged in segregated facilities. This ruling paved the way for integration and was one of the many major victories of the United States Civil Rights Movement.

Like the Australian civil rights movement the United States civil rights movement was largely supported by landmark cases like these.