On Australia Day 1972, four aboriginal activists changed the ways of the Aboriginal Rights Movement by moving the issue of land rights to the courts. Supported by thousands of activists across Australia, the Aboriginal Embassy was the “by far the most successful Aboriginal action of the 20th century” (Gary Foley, Aboriginal Activist). Michael Anderson was a noticeable leader in the establishment of the embassy as he along with three others founded the idea, inspired by the Black Power Movement and the Freedom Rides in the US. The creation of the Aboriginal Embassy was a very significant event in relation to Aboriginal land rights and it aided in the acknowledgment of the Aboriginal people and created change in many ways including the law.
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The Black Power Movement was a political movement made by the African-Americans during the 50s and 60s in the United States. The aim of the movement was to eliminate racial discrimination and gain civil rights and racial equality amongst whites and African-American’s. However, this occurred in quite a violent manner throughout America. A major part to this movement was the Freedom Rides, a group of civil rights activists who rode on buses around the southern areas of the United States to challenge racial segregation. Shortly after this occurred in the United States and inspired by the events that were occurring, Australia’s own Black Power Movement was formed in Redfern, Sydney, with the same intent of gaining civil rights. The Aboriginal activists saw the “value of direct action” (Indigenous Australia, unknown) and decided to take the issue of Aboriginal land rights immediately into their own hands, by establishing the Aboriginal Embassy. However in contrast to the US movement as no violence was intended. Thus, the aim of Australian Black Power Movement, much like US, was to identify the need for “Black people to define the world in their own terms, and to seek self-determination without white interference” (Koori History Website, 2000). The Black Power Movement and the Freedom Rides …show more content…
The erection of the embassy “played a huge role in the introduction of Aboriginal land rights and the struggle to end racial discrimination in [the] country” (Creative Spirits, 2017). After the embassy was established the treatment of the Aboriginals changed dramatically, along with the creation and abolishment of several laws. Due to the protest, Gough Whitlam changed his party’s policy to guarantee that Aboriginals would gain land rights, leading to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act of 1976. This act was introduced when Whitlam was elected as prime minister and it allowed people of the Northern Territory “to claim the title to land” if they could prove their “traditional association with it” (SBS, Timeline: Aboriginal Tent Embassy, 2013) and it allowed mining but with suitable payments being made to the local Aboriginal communities Another major outcome of the embassy was the end of the assimilation policy, in which Aboriginal were forced to conform to the white lifestyle. Despite these important changes that recognized the Aboriginal rights and their traditional ownership of the land, the Aboriginal community did not gain physical land back. However, the embassy has provoked many other protests in the continuing struggle for land rights, with many more embassies being formed around Australia. The original embassy still remains to
The Black Power Movement was a political movement made by the African-Americans during the 50s and 60s in the United States. The aim of the movement was to eliminate racial discrimination and gain civil rights and racial equality amongst whites and African-American’s. However, this occurred in quite a violent manner throughout America. A major part to this movement was the Freedom Rides, a group of civil rights activists who rode on buses around the southern areas of the United States to challenge racial segregation. Shortly after this occurred in the United States and inspired by the events that were occurring, Australia’s own Black Power Movement was formed in Redfern, Sydney, with the same intent of gaining civil rights. The Aboriginal activists saw the “value of direct action” (Indigenous Australia, unknown) and decided to take the issue of Aboriginal land rights immediately into their own hands, by establishing the Aboriginal Embassy. However in contrast to the US movement as no violence was intended. Thus, the aim of Australian Black Power Movement, much like US, was to identify the need for “Black people to define the world in their own terms, and to seek self-determination without white interference” (Koori History Website, 2000). The Black Power Movement and the Freedom Rides …show more content…
The erection of the embassy “played a huge role in the introduction of Aboriginal land rights and the struggle to end racial discrimination in [the] country” (Creative Spirits, 2017). After the embassy was established the treatment of the Aboriginals changed dramatically, along with the creation and abolishment of several laws. Due to the protest, Gough Whitlam changed his party’s policy to guarantee that Aboriginals would gain land rights, leading to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act of 1976. This act was introduced when Whitlam was elected as prime minister and it allowed people of the Northern Territory “to claim the title to land” if they could prove their “traditional association with it” (SBS, Timeline: Aboriginal Tent Embassy, 2013) and it allowed mining but with suitable payments being made to the local Aboriginal communities Another major outcome of the embassy was the end of the assimilation policy, in which Aboriginal were forced to conform to the white lifestyle. Despite these important changes that recognized the Aboriginal rights and their traditional ownership of the land, the Aboriginal community did not gain physical land back. However, the embassy has provoked many other protests in the continuing struggle for land rights, with many more embassies being formed around Australia. The original embassy still remains to