To James Joseph, the scene on the beach that day in 1973 was emblematic of South Africa as a whole. Marring the beauty of the ocean waves and sandy shores, a sign stuck out of the ground, emblazoned with the words "Whites Only, No Dogs Allowed."
Joseph, the new leader-in-residence of the Hart Leadership Program, was visiting South Africa for the first time on a business outing related to his work as president of the Cummins Engine Foundation. Standing in front of that sign, Joseph took his first steps toward accomplishing his true mission.
"I went to gather ammunition for the war-we were waging a war against apartheid," he said. "Because I was an officer of a multi-national corporation, I had credentials that allowed me to go where most blacks couldn't. They didn't see me as an activist-until I made my speech."
That speech, made on the beach that day to media and onlookers, strongly denounced the policies of the apartheid government, and came as a shock to the same government that had extended its hospitality to the black American.
Joseph's comments had their intended effect, sending waves through the South African public. Many newspapers ran Joseph's photo on the front page; one headline read, "Black American Says Dignity Insulted."
After receiving threatening phone calls throughout that night, Joseph took the next plane home, scared and appalled by the conditions he had witnessed. But in the more than 25 years since-including the three he just served there as U.S. ambassador-he has remained an activist in a business suit, doing everything in his power to fight for equality there.
Sitting at his desk in Durham's Red Mill Building, Joseph is still fighting. But now, through the Hart Leadership Program and as a professor of the practice at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy, his issues and tactics have changed considerably.
Along with his joint appointment at Duke and the University of Cape Town, his position as distinguished visitor to the National Humanities Center in Durham will allow him to work on a book.
The subject of the book reflects Joseph's current passion: public values and ethics. His course scheduled for next semester is called Leadership as a Moral Activity.
"For the last decade, much of the discussion about values has focused on micro-ethics, the ethics of human behavior," he said. "I want to focus on macro-ethics, the institutional and social system and the public values that build community."
As one of the original members of the Sanford Institute's Board of Directors, Joseph has long-standing ties to Duke.
He considered joining the faculty before his ambassadorship and returned to Durham in 1998 to deliver the Hart Distinguished Lecture.
Susan King, president of the Hart-affiliated Leadership Initiative, invited Joseph back for the lecture. "We began a little bit of a campaign to see if we couldn't lure him back to the Duke campus," she said. "It's a real coup for Duke that we encouraged him to come here."
King and Joseph met during their work in the Carter administration, while Joseph was undersecretary of the interior. Joseph has also served under three other presidents-Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton.
He began his service to President Clinton as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National Service. Then, in late 1995, Clinton appointed him ambassador to South Africa.
But Joseph's controversial past made him an unlikely diplomat.
Even after his speech in the sand, Joseph remained a thorn in the side of the South African government, which did not let him into the country until 1990, when the apartheid system began to crumble.
Soon after he was allowed back into the country for a business trip, Joseph went to Parliament holding a "Free Mandela" sign. While he stood outside protesting, then-President F.W. DeKlerk declared that he would release Mandela from his 27 years in prison. Once again, Joseph's picture landed on the front page of South African papers.
In January 1996, Joseph presented his credentials to then-President Mandela, who approved him to be an ambassador. With his official papers, Joseph brought along a copy of the "Free Mandela" photo. "It had been a long journey for [Mandela], but it was a reasonably long journey for me," Joseph said.
He now regards Mandela as an incredible inspiration.
"I feel very happy to have lived in the 20th century, primarily because I got the opportunity to know Nelson Mandela," Joseph said. "He is not simply an icon or cultural hero. He transcends history."
As ambassador, Joseph stayed true to his activist roots, rallying adamantly for South Africa's welfare and focusing on increasing American investment and promoting an American presence in the nation. "I tried to be objective as an ambassador," Joseph said, "but objective government only goes so far when you're transforming a country."
After the end of his term, Clinton offered Joseph the opportunity to take another ambassadorship, but Joseph declined to return to private life.
"I'm not a career ambassador," Joseph said. "I accepted President Clinton's appointment because it was South Africa. Now, I'll return to the most noble and most honored title that a democracy offers: a citizen."
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