CHAPEL HILL -- When Kenneth Broun was growing up in Chicago and attending law school at the University of Illinois, he had no idea that his future would include writing a book about his strong ties to South Africa and its black lawyers.
Years later, as law dean at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he first visited that nation after being invited. He was asked to teach trial advocacy -- one of his specialties -- to black lawyers, who sorely needed such training. He and Charlotte attorney Jim Ferguson, one of the nation's leading civil rights lawyers, traveled to South Africa together.
Broun developed some simple materials to use in teaching and, after a long wait for a visa, went over. "Treading carefully because we didn't know how the system worked," the two offered the prototype program at a conference center outside Johannesburg in 1986. As the black lawyers came in, they told disturbing tales of others being arrested on their way to the program.
"I knew a good bit about South Africa because my younger son, Dan, had participated in an exchange program there when he was a junior in high school in 1985," Broun said. "But I didn't know about lawyers and lawyering there. I knew about apartheid, of course, but it was more pervasive than I thought. I didn't realize the extent to which black lawyers had to struggle to get their education and to practice."
Broun recalled the contrast between the way he was treated when he was with black friends and the way he and his wife were welcomed into South Africa's white society when they ventured out on their own. "The racism was absolutely pervasive," he said. "There were a few whites helping with the program and that was admirable. But racism went deep into the society, creating a very difficult situation."
Over the years, he returned whenever possible to continue teaching. Various organizations, including the United States-South Africa Leader Exchange Program, USAID, the Ford Foundation, the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the American Bar Association, helped with funding and sent more volunteers. At least twice when money ran out, Broun used his law school travel budget to go to South Africa, instead of attending legal conferences.
His experiences and the relationships he formed with black lawyers living and working there provided the inspiration for his new book, "Black Lawyers, White Courts: The Soul of South African Law" (Ohio University Press, 2000). The book, which features a message by South Africa's first black president, Nelson Mandela, and a foreword by N.C. Central University Chancellor and civil rights attorney Julius Chambers, tells the poignant stories of 27 black South African lawyers.
In 1996, Broun, now Henry Brandis professor of law interviewed the lawyers -- many of whom were friends since his first trip. He asked them about their education, careers and hopes for the future. Their stories often included grim revelations of years in prison, exile or house arrest -- the price they paid for fighting for rights and the rule of law.
Among those featured in the book is Dikgang Moseneke, who was 15 years old when he was arrested for making statements against apartheid and given a 10-year prison sentence. During his time in prison, Moseneke took correspondence courses at night to accomplish his dream of being an attorney. He and Fikile Bam, also featured in the book, were prisoners with Mandela on Robben Island. After his release, he became a leader in the building of a new South Africa and a successful lawyer and entrepreneur.
"Black Lawyers, White Courts" is dedicated to the memory of the only one of the featured lawyers who is now deceased -- Godfrey Pitje, who took a stand against apartheid by refusing to sit at a table in the courtroom reserved for blacks. Broun recalls Pitje, the first black lawyer he met in South Africa, as a person of "great warmth and unfailing dignity." The two men became close friends. When Pitje visited Broun in Chapel Hill, he received medical treatment for an earlier knife wound to his throat delivered by a man whose wife went to Pitje for help with a divorce.
This group also includes women such as Yvonne Mokgoro, whose baby was ripped from her arms before she was thrown into a police van, because she defended a black man arrested for no reason.
When the new South African Constitution went into effect in 1994, Broun was ecstatic. "Until then, I never thought it would happen or that things would really change. I'm glad I was wrong," he said.
Today, the once-persecuted black attorneys in South Africa are doing well and are extremely busy, added Broun, who teaches courses on civil procedure, professional responsibility, evidence and the role of law in changing nations. But it's impossible for him to forget what their sacrifices meant.
"I've been amazed by the perseverance of so many people in the face of adversity -- people who were willing to just keep trying, despite the odds against them. They demonstrated incredible loyalty to their cause and to their people. Many of these very bright attorneys would have found themselves better off by going abroad and accepting offers from lawyers in England and other places. But they refused to go -- they were obliged to be at home and not to give in to the government that did not want them there."
Note: Broun can be reached at (919) 962-4112. He will read from his book at the Regulator bookstore in Durham at 7 p.m. April 24 and at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes & Nobel on May 9.
Contact: David Williamson, (919) 962-8596.