Comparative Timeline - First Australians and Civil Rights Movements in USA

[AUS] Day of Mourning

Jan 26, 1938

Day of Mourning held by the Aborigines League and the Aborigines Progressive Association. It is the first major protest by the Indigenous people.

[AUS] Cummeragunja Walk-off

Feb 4, 1939

The first-ever mass strike of Aboriginal people in Australia occurs, called the Cummeragunja Walk-off. Over 150 Aboriginal people pack-up and leave Cummeragunja Aboriginal Station in protest at the cruel treatment and exploitation of residents by the management.

[AUS] Exemption Certificate introduced

Aug 5, 1943

An Exemption Certificate is introduced, exempting certain Aboriginal people from restrictive legislation and entitling them to vote, drink alcohol and move freely but prohibiting them from consorting with others who are not exempt.

[AUS] Pilbara strike

May 2, 1946

Hundreds of Aboriginal pastoral workers left their work for better pay and conditions in May 1946, paralysing sheep stations. The strike was organised with no phones or radios and lasted until 1949, the longest strike in Australia’s history.

[USA] Truman signs Executive Order 9981

Jul 26, 1948

Truman signs Executive Order 9981

[AUS] Australian Citizenship Act of 1949

Jan 1, 1949

Australian Citizenship Act gives Indigenous Australians the vote in Commonwealth elections if they are enrolled for State elections or have served in the Armed Forces.

[AUS] First formal schooling for Aboriginal children

Jan 2, 1950

The first formal schooling for Aboriginal children in the Northern Territory is provided. Lack of facilities is rationalised by the claim that children “beyond the age of 10 couldn’t keep up with white children anyway”.

[USA] The Supreme Court Ruling

May 17, 1954

The Supreme Court rules

[USA] Death of Emmett Till

Aug 5, 1955

Death of Emmett Till

[USA] Rosa Parks - Refusal of bus seat

Dec 1, 1955

Rosa Parks

[USA] Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Jan 1, 1957

Southern Christian Leadership conference

[USA[ Little Rock Nine

Sep 1, 1957

Little Rock Nine

[USA] Black Protest

Feb 5, 1960

Protests

[USA] Freedom Riders - Volunteer Protests

May 4, 1961

student volunteers begin taking bus trips through the South to test out new laws that prohibit segregation

[AUS] Aboriginal Voting Power

Jan 1, 1962

All Indigenous people are given the vote in Commonwealth elections.

[USA] First black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi

Oct 1, 1962

James Meredith becomes the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi

[USA] Brutal treatment of protestors televised across the world

May 1, 1963

During civil rights protests in Birmingham, Ala., Commissioner of Public Safety Eugene "Bull" Connor uses fire hoses and police dogs on black demonstrators.

[USA] "I have a dream" speech - Martin Luther King

Aug 28, 1963

About 200,000 people join the March on Washington. Congregating at the Lincoln Memorial, participants listen as Martin Luther King delivers his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.

[USA] Civil Rights Act of 1964

Jul 2, 1964

The most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin.

[USA] Ku Klux Klan - Murder

Aug 1, 1964

Ku Klux Klan murder 3 civil workers, 2 white 1 black

[AUS] Australian Freedom Riders

Feb 1, 1965

Charles Perkins leads a freedom ride by Aboriginal people and students through north-western New South Wales in support of Aboriginal rights. The ride demonstrates the extent of discrimination against Aboriginal people
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[AUS] Integration Policy introduced

Feb 9, 1965

Integration policy is introduced, supposedly to give Aboriginal people more control over their lives and society.

[USA] Voting Rights Act of 1965

Aug 10, 1965

Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for Southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting are made illegal.

[AUS] South Australian Prohibition of Discrimination Act

Jul 1, 1966

The South Australian Prohibition of Discrimination Act is the first of its kind in Australia and bans all types of race and colour discrimination in employment, accommodation, legal contracts and public facilities.

[AUS] Referendum to include Aboriginals in census

Nov 10, 1967

Referendum held – 90.7% of Australians vote YES to count Indigenous Australians in the census and to give the Commonwealth Government the power to make laws for them.

[USA] Civil Rights Act of 1968

Apr 11, 1968

President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1968, prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing.

[USA] Civil Rights Act of 1991

Nov 22, 1991

After two years of debates, vetoes, and threatened vetoes, President Bush reverses himself and signs the Civil Rights Act of 1991, strengthening existing civil rights laws and providing for damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.

[USA] Civil Rights Act of 2008

Jan 1, 2008

Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduces the Civil Rights Act of 2008. Some of the proposed provisions include ensuring that federal funds are not used to subsidize discrimination, holding employers accountable for age discrimination, and improving accountability for other violations of civil rights and workers' rights.