Aborigines & Activism Race, Aborigines & the Coming of the Sixties to Australia

by Clark, Jennifer

• ISBN13: 9780980296570
• ISBN10: 0980296579
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-06-06
• Publisher: UWA Publishing

Summary

In a provocative reappraisal of the 1960s, Aborigines & Activism recontextualises the history of Aboriginal activism within wider international movements. Concurrent to anti-war protests, women's movements, burgeoning civil rights activism in the United States and the struggles of South Africa's anti-apartheid freedom righters, dramatic political changes took place in 'assimilated' Australia that challenged its status quo. From the early days of grassroots resistance through to Charles Perkins' 1965 Freedom Ride, the 1967 Referendum, Canberra's Tent Embassy and beyond, this is the story of the Great Southern Land's racial awakening - a time when Aborigines and their white supporters achieved paradigmatic shifts in the search for equality, justice and human dignity that still has powerful implications for 21st century Australia. This is an engaging study of the stories of racial awakening in Australia that marked the coming of the wind of change. Through rigorous research, the author shows how supporters of Indigenous Australians and their struggles for equality pushed Australia into the 60s literally and figuratively. The book also puts the Australian experience of the 60s into an international perspective, portrayed as unique but not in isolation.

Author Biography

Jennifer Clark is Senior Lecturer at the University of New England.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Place of Race in the 60s Phenomenon	p. 1
'A Dividing Line in History': Sharpeville and the Challenge to Domestic Jurisdiction	p. 15
'The big overseas attack': Aborigines and the Department of External Affairs	p. 41
'A search for grassroots participation and community': Aborigines and Organisation	p. 68
Facing the 'wind of change' at Yirrkala in 1963	p. 93
'Louts, yahoos and purposeless disruptionists': Race and the 'Revival of Politics' in the Universities	p. 122
'Now it seems it is Australia's turn': Students and the Freedom Ride	p. 150
'Yes': The 1967 Referendum	p. 180
'Black Power is Land Rights Now': Coming together in Canberra	p. 203
Conclusion	p. 244
Acknowledgements	p. 251
Notes	p. 253
Select Bibliography	p. 293
Index	p. 299
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