SUBJECTS: Civics and Citizenship, History
YEARS: 9–10
The Freedom Riders travelled through regional NSW in February 1965, challenging racist attitudes and practices they encountered.
In this clip from the ABC current affairs program 'The Drum', original Freedom Rider Hall Greenland reflects on events in Moree and expresses his hopes for what students recreating the Freedom Ride in 2015 might achieve.
Things to think about
- 1.When the Freedom Riders reached Moree, they negotiated with town officials to admit Aboriginal children into the local swimming pool. This was despite a local by-law banning Aboriginal people from the baths. When the Riders returned to the pool the following day, angry townsfolk were waiting.
- 2.What happened when the Freedom Riders returned to the Moree Swimming Pool? According to Hall Greenland, what was the response of the Australian media to the Freedom Ride? What does Mr Greenland hope the new Freedom Riders will achieve?
- 3.When asked about the media response to the Freedom Ride, Mr Greenland says '… it was a thing about the sixties. Media-savvy, consciousness was around, even on that bus trip, even in 1965.' What do you think Mr Greenland means? Why does he qualify his statement by saying, 'even in 1965'?
- 4.'I also hope that they encourage the self-organisation, and the kind of angry desire for self-determination that drove that initial renaissance and reawakening of modern Aboriginal communities …' How might local Indigenous communities undertake this sort of self-determination? What benefits does this approach offer? What challenges does it present?
Date of broadcast: 18 Feb 2015
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