Focus question 1: How did the Freedom Riders escalate the campaign for justice for Aboriginal people?
Teaching and learning activities
Activity 1: Tuning in (15 min)
1a Create this hypothetical scenario with the whole class to set the scene for the story of the Freedom Ride:
 |
|
Our class has been banned from using the local swimming pool because we are 'different' from other people. We can't change this situation; the pool manager says the decision is final. |
|
|
| Students could role-play their responses. |
1b Ask students to consider this situation:
- What if all the other classes in the school were going to the local swimming pool on Friday for a swim and picnic, but our class was not allowed to go?
- If students ask 'Why?' reply that 'Somebody says that some of us are unclean' and 'People think we are different from them'.
1c Ask students to think about and describe their responses to the following questions. Record comments on an overhead transparency or board, and retain for further reference in Activity 6b.
| Use an atlas to show the location of some Freedom Ride towns, eg Walgett and Moree (NSW). The 'People Power' interactive on the Stories of Democracy CD ROM locates the places visited. |
- How would you feel?
- What would you do? Remember: The pool manager says the decision is final!
Activity 2: The Freedom Ride (30 min)
2a Read this introduction to the 1965 Freedom Ride to the students:
|
|
This is the story of some Aboriginal children in country towns of northern and western NSW who were not allowed to swim in the town swimming pools outside of school hours. Their parents were banned from hotels and clubs, and were often kept waiting in local shops while others who came later were served in front of them. Sometimes they were not even served at all in milk bars, stores and hairdressers. When Aboriginal people went to the movies they had to sit in the worst seats in the cinema. In one town they had to sit in a fenced-off area at the front of the theatre, and wait until the lights went down before they entered the cinema. |
|
|
Our story also tells of 30 Sydney University students who made a 3,200-kilometre bus tour to visit these towns. One student, Charles Perkins, was an Aborigine; most of the others on the trip were not. They wanted to find out about the lives of Aborigines who were kept apart from other townspeople in recreational facilities and shopping centres. The students wanted to tell other Australians about this separation or segregation of Aborigines and other people. Their bus trip to segregated towns near the border of NSW and Queensland in the summer of 1965 is known as Australia's Freedom Ride. |
|
|
| Discuss the key terms 'prejudice', 'discrimination' and 'segregation'. |
|
|
The students had seen television reports of Freedom Rides in the United States of America where people who felt strongly about justice challenged the segregation of blacks and whites in bus terminals. The protests were organised by civil rights campaigners led by Martin Luther King. Dr King's non-violent strategies and his words inspired millions of Americans in 1963. His words also inspired many Australians. |
|
|
2b Show the 'Freedom Ride' segment from the Discovering Democracy Primary Video.
2c Using students' initial responses to the story and video ask:
- How would the Aboriginal children in the towns along the Freedom Ride have felt before the students came? and after they came?
2d As a class, complete the 'Injustice' cell in the 'Freedom Ride' row of the 'People Power' matrix. Ask students to suggest words that describe the injustice (unfair practices) that the Freedom Ride students wanted to change. Include examples of the discriminatory practices that existed in some country towns.
Table 1 People Power matrix
Event
 |
Injustice
|
Action
|
Result
|
| Freedom Ride |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Activity 3: Make your own Freedom Ride video (20 min for each group)
3a Arrange for pairs or three students, working in rotation, to complete the 'People Power' interactive on the Stories of Democracy CD ROM while the rest of the class are engaged in Activities 4 and 5.
3b Students should use the notebook facility on the CD ROM to collect source information or key ideas for use in Activities 5 and 6.
Activity 4: The Freedom Riders' actions (30 min)
4a Organise students into groups to review the Freedom Riders' actions, discussing the strategies used by the Freedom Riders and the effectiveness of the protest.
4b Invite group representatives to share answers with the rest of the class.
4c Complete the 'Action' cell on the 'Freedom Ride' row on the 'People Power' matrix by asking students to suggest words to describe the actions taken by the Freedom Riders, eg demonstration, protest, and, possibly, media (investigated in Activity 5).
| Clarify what 'the media' was in the 1960s: newspapers and radio were most common and powerful; movie theatres showed 'movie news'; many people did not have television. |
Activity 5: The role of the media in the Freedom Ride (90 min)
5a Organise students into groups to analyse the role of the media. Remind them that one of the main aims of the Freedom Riders was to draw public attention to discrimination against Aborigines in country towns. Students will investigate:
- how the students gained media attention throughout the Freedom Ride
- the media's role in informing and influencing the public about the students' actions.
5b Distribute copies of Handout 1 to each group. Direct students to look at the pictures and captions. Invite comments and questions.
5c Groups should discuss questions before each student writes answers in their journals under the heading 'The Freedom Ride in the media'.
5d Invite some students to share their responses with the rest of the class.
5e Distribute copies of Handout 2. One student in each group has responsibility for studying one item on Handout 2, and responding to the task at the end of the Handout in their journals.
5f Invite students to share their responses with the rest of the class. Compare their headlines with those published in 1965:
- Item 1 'Demonstration at Moree Baths'
- Item 2 'The man who heads our "freedom riders"'
- Item 3 no title
- Item 4 'Students' picket closes theatre'.
5g Help students generalise about the role of the media in the Freedom Ride by asking: 'What do we know now about the role of the media in the changes that happened because of the Freedom Ride?'
Students should suggest a couple of words about the role of the media for the 'Action' cell in the 'People Power' matrix.
Activity 6: Rounding up (60 min)
6a Consider the results of the Freedom Ride by reviewing students' initial responses to the scenario posed in Activity 1a.
- Could the Aboriginal children in Moree have done the things you thought of doing? Why not?
- Why were the Freedom Riders able to get the ban on Aboriginal children swimming at the pool removed?
|
|
6b Using the 'People Power' matrix, and information provided by the video and the interactive on the Stories of Democracy CD ROM, conduct a discussion on the cause-and-effect relationships between:
- the Freedom Riders' actions
- the media interest in their actions
- the results of the media coverage, eg public awareness of discriminatory practices in some country towns
- the beginning of the removal of these practices.
| Record student ideas on the board for later reference. |
6c Ask students to evaluate the success of the Freedom Ride:
- Did the Freedom Riders achieve their goals?
- How do you know this?
- What else needed to be done to fully achieve their goals?
6d Briefly mention the following important events which were most likely influenced by the Freedom Ride:
Table 2 Some events that followed the Freedom Ride
1967 |
Australians voted to change two clauses about Aboriginal people in the Australian Constitution. The actual changes did not make much difference to the quality of life of Aboriginal people, but the very large vote to support them demonstrated a strong desire by Australian people to improve relations between Aborigines and other Australians. The changes meant that Aboriginal people were counted in the census and the Commonwealth Government was given the right to make laws for Aboriginal people. |
1975 |
The Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act made discrimination on the basis of race unlawful. |
1995 |
The Commonwealth Racial Hatred Act made extremely hurtful behaviour towards people on the basis of race unlawful. |
6e Complete the 'Freedom Ride' row on the 'People Power' matrix. Ask students to suggest a few words to describe the results of the Freedom Ride. Add appropriate suggestions to the 'Result' cell.
6f Display Handout 3 and discuss the round-up activity. Students should complete the activity in their journals using the following sources of information:
- Discovering Democracy Primary Video 'Freedom Ride' segment
- Stories of Democracy CD ROM 'People Power' interactive
- Stories of Democracy CD ROM biographies: Charles Perkins
- the 'People Power' matrix
- students' 'People Power' journals.
Assessment
Collect students' journals and assess the media activity using the following criteria. The student can demonstrate:
- knowledge of why the Freedom Ride occurred
- knowledge of the actions of the Freedom Riders and the role of Charles Perkins
- knowledge of the effectiveness of the Freedom Ride
- an appreciation of the role of the media in the Freedom Ride
- clear organisation and presentation with appropriately placed headings and captions.
Further activities
- Conduct a whole-class discussion on current practices which discriminate against people on the basis of race, gender, disability etc. Students could research a topic and its media coverage, and consider how public awareness of this practice could be increased through non-violent protest.
- Students could research the American freedom rides on these Internet sites:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/mlk/
http://pc000448.ed.uidaho.edu/mlk/index.htm
ESL activities
Back to 'People Power - At a glance'
|
