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News images of ‘Aboriginal made-up’ men and boys in blackface entertaining Australia Day crowds just 53 years ago have surfaced on social media.
The NBN news clip, filmed in Newcastle two hours north of Sydney on Australia Day 1970, was reposted on Twitter on Thursday with the caption “White people doing blackface on Australia Day 1970.”
The historic video showed large crowds watching curiously. In a striking similarity to today’s Australia Day celebrations, there isn’t a single Australian flag in sight.
The images, which are haunting to the modern eye, show men and boys in blackface entertaining Australia Day crowds in Newcastle
Invasion day events and survival were powerful affairs in 2023
In the clip, two groups of young men and boys in black body and face paint gleefully stalk viewers and hurl fake spears at them during a family-packed event that began on Hunter Street.
The youths had put on blackface, apparently not realizing that it might already be inappropriate.
Their chests were also painted with what appeared to be white bones.
The 1970 clip showed a second group of young Newcastle men also wearing black full body paint.
It had a man dressed as Ned Kelly, accompanied by “cops” and a flatbed truck carrying a boatload of saluting council workers dressed as the first crew of the fleet.
They laughed and pretended to throw spears at men dressed as First Fleet sailors.
On the same day, 53 years later, Indigenous Australians and their allies somberly walked together to express their collective sadness over the impacts of colonization at ‘Invasion Day’ demonstrations across Australia.
As the years go by, the losses continue to mount for indigenous Australians.
For starters, they suffer much higher rates of incarceration, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and drug and alcohol addiction than most non-indigenous communities in the same country.
The historic video showed large crowds, without an Australian flag in sight, looking curiously at the men in blackface.
Australia’s indigenous people are dying younger, with heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and cancer the many culprits, and are less likely to find a stable career and housing.
They die younger, with heart disease, diabetes, respiratory disease and cancer the main culprits, and are less likely to find stable careers and housing.
Just a few hundred yards from where the boys in blackface took a leading role on Australia Day in 1970, Newcastle’s 2023 Day of Mourning event was much more reflective.
It started at 10am at the Customs House fountain and was followed by a walk down Wharf Road to ‘release’ unfortunate matters.
The 1970 clip showed a second group of young men also wearing full body black paint.
On the same day, 53 years later, Indigenous Australians and their allies walked grimly together across Australia.
On Melbourne Invasion Day, protesters had a number of events to choose from
They stood on Horsehoe Beach, near the famous Nobby’s Beach, looking menacing as another group re-enacted Captain Phillip’s landing at Botany Bay.
Aside from the hideous blackface, the 1970 parade wasn’t all that different than it would be today.
It had a man dressed as Ned Kelly, accompanied by ‘policemen’ and a flatbed truck carrying a boatload of saluting council workers dressed as the first crew of the fleet.
On Twitter, people who saw the post were surprised and shocked, but some found the video familiar.
‘It’s crazy to judge people from the past through the prism of our current standards and understanding,’ said one man.
“This is the world I grew up in. I’m glad we’re (somewhat) over this,” wrote a Perth man.
“I think there are still a lot of people who still live in this paradigm of acceptability.”
Newcastle’s Day of Mourning 2023 event kicked off at 10am at the Customs House fountain and was followed by a walk up Wharf Road to ‘liberate’ sorry businesses
No matter how frowned upon, blackface seems to keep happening.
In September 2022, a Queensland football club came under investigation after a Mad Monday ‘blackface’ team photo was posted online that appeared to show players dressed as Michael Jordan and Usain Bolt.
The image, which showed representatives of the Highfields Eagles Rugby League Club in Toowoomba, appeared on the club’s Facebook page.
Following backlash from the community, it was quickly removed.
Another notable difference was the complete absence of Australian flags among the visible spectators.
At most Australia Day events since about 2000, Australian flags have tended to be plastered on everything from T-shirts to boards to sun hats to beach towels.