Black Lawyers, White Courts: The Soul of South African Law

by Kenneth S. Broun, Julius Chambers

Overview

In the struggle against apartheid, one often overlooked group of crusaders was the coterie of black lawyers who overcame the Byzantine system that the government established oftentimes explicitly to block the paths of its black citizens from achieving justice.

Now, in their own voices, we have the narratives of many of those lawyers as recounted in a series of oral interviews. Black Lawyers, White Courts is their story and the anti-apartheid story that has before now gone untold.

Professor Kenneth Broun conducted interviews with twenty-seven black South African lawyers. They were asked to tell about their lives, including their family backgrounds, education, careers, and their visions for the future. In many instances they also discussed their years in prison or exile, or under house arrest. Most told of both education and careers interrupted because of the ongoing struggle.

The story of the professional achievements of black lawyers in South Africa-indeed their very survival-provides an example of the triumph of individuals and, ultimately, of the law. Black Lawyers, White Courts is about South Africa, and about black professionals in that country, but the lessons its protagonists teach extend far beyond circumstances, geography, or race.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780821412862
Publisher:	Ohio University Press
Publication date:	12/31/1999
Edition description:	1
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Kenneth S. Broun is the Henry Brandeis Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina Law School. Since 1986, he has traveled regularly to South Africa to conduct programs in trial advocacy training through the Black Lawyers Association of South Africa.

Table of Contents

	A Message from Nelson Mandela	ix
	Foreword	xi
	Preface	xv
	Acknowledgments	xix
	Abbreviations	xxiii
1	Godfrey Mokgomane Pitje	1
	Teacher, Scholar, Attorney, Father
2	Some Beginnings	30
3	Growing Up under Apartheid	42
4	Bantu Education	50
5	University Years	60
6	Dikgang Moseneke	87
	Prisoner, Attorney, Advocate, Judge, Entrepreneur
7	Struggles--Imprisonment, Banning, and Exile	119
8	Starting into Practice	141
9	The Practice of Law under Apartheid	167
10	New Judges and Other Officials	193
11	Law Practice in the New South Africa	207
12	Dullah Omar	221
	Lawyer for Robben Island Prisoners, Detainee, Minister of Justice
13	Past, Present, and Future	244
	Overcoming the Challenge
	Notes	259
	Glossary	263
	People	267
	Place Names	269
	South African Universities	273
	Lawyers Interviewed	275
	Index	277

Editorial Reviews

Brown (law, U. of North Carolina) has traveled regularly to South Africa since 1986 to give trial advocacy training. Based on and often quoting interviews, he reveals the constraints black lawyers labored under during apartheid, and their struggle to obtain justice for their clients. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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