A Family Discovers Its History of Shackles and Shame

DeWolf family members and Ghanaian Beatrice Manu, right, watch a river ceremony where centuries ago, captive Africans were taken for their last baths before leaving their homeland. "Traces of the Trade," about the family's role in the slave trade, airs tomorrow. (By Amishadai Sackitey -- Pbs Via Associated Press)

"To go through the slave pavilions [in Ghana], that is a very difficult thing, and I learned that I am not as indestructible as I think," says co-producer Brown. "The grief that comes up . . . it would have been nice to have had an African American ally."

"I work around the clock," the director says, " and I can only wonder if there is a piece of white guilt that I have not let go of."

Browne says she has received hate mail -- from white people who fear making financial reparations for slavery, a subject the film raises.

"It is a lot to ask black Americans to love white people, to forgive them," adds the director, a "preacher's grandkid" who identifies as Buddhist, Episcopalian and more.

"The accumulated rage passed down through the generations, well, that needs an outlet," she says. "The people who deserved it didn't receive it, so how do we figure out how to honor and welcome those feelings and make up for the mistakes that were made without putting up our own brick walls?"

She sighs. "Maybe when white people, in word and deed, do everything in their power to apologize to black Americans, step two would be for black Americans to decide whether or not they wanted anything to do with that."

The "P.O.V." documentary Traces of the Trade: A Story From the Deep North (90 minutes) airs tomorrow night at 11:30 on Channel 26.