How Did Charles Perkins Influence Australian History

Charles Perkins had a big impact on Australian history, specifically Aboriginal rights, through the post-war era. Perkins, born in 1936, spent his early childhood in a police-patrolled compound in Alice Springs. He was not part of the stolen generation within the sense that he was not forcibly removed from his mother, however, he did spend his childhood and adolescence away from his family. Perkins reported having an unhappy childhood, plagued by racial vilification and social alienation, and was generally being treated as an inferior citizen by his peers. This childhood motivated him to go to university and eventually facilitate other indigenous Australians to follow suit. After Perkins went to the University of Sydney, from where he graduated in 1965 with a Bachelor of Arts, he eventually became a politician, sports star and a vital Australian Aboriginal activist. This was primarily through Australian Freedom Rides, which he started after seeing the success of the freedom Rides in America.

The original 'Freedom Rides' in the American South were a series of student political protests that took the form of bus journeys through the southern states. Student volunteers, both African American and white, rode interstate into the pro-segregationist south, to bring awareness to and fight for person of colours rights. This eventually led to violent protest and hostility that additionally increased public awareness of racism in society through this intensive media coverage. Due to international coverage, protests in support of the Civil Rights movement occurred in Australia as well, supporting the Civil Rights Bill that was being considered by the United States