Whenever questions on race and racism are raised in public discussions, my abiding answer has always been that there isn’t any serious thought given to the subject by mainstream America and its accompanying communication machine — the mainstream media. I’ve maintained that the attitude towards confronting racism has always been one of surface scratching and not any deep effort to dismantle a culture that dehumanizes other human beings simply because of skin color and thrives on a fake superiority complex.

But on April 11 at Howard University it was different. When I accepted the invitation to witness the official screening of a new national film on race, “Meeting David Wilson,” last Friday evening at Washington’s prominent Black college, I was surprised by the many young people who expressed interest in the discussion of slavery. Because too often the conventional wisdom promoted here is that today’s generation is not too concerned about the history of slavery because of all the bread and butter issues today’s youth are dealing with. And so when a film like “Meeting David Wilson” is been screened on national television live on MSNBC with hundreds of young people from the college and outside actively taking part in the discussion, it defies conventional wisdom.

The film, hosted by former NFL player Tiki Barber, chronicles the journey of 28-year-old African American journalist David A. Wilson from Newark, N.J., who like Alex Haley had a “Roots”-type transfiguration and went in search of his roots, back to Reidsville in Caswell County, N.C. There he would meet a 62-year-old White man whose great-great grandfather owned slaves, one of whom was Wilson’s great-great grandfather, born in 1883. Interestingly, the 62-year-old is also named David B. Wilson. So the younger Wilson engages the older Wilson in discussions about the bitter legacy of slavery. The documentary includes a trip young Wilson takes to Ghana, the land of his African ancestors.

In Ghana, it was a sobbing experience as Wilson’s hosts take him through two prominent forts slave traders hold Africans in preparation for transport across the Atlantic into slavery. Elmina Castle, built in 1482 by the Portuguese, like Goree Island in Senegal, is tagged “The Door of No Return” because once Africans were captured and processed, they were bound for America and Europe. Cape Coast Castle was termed the main slave-trading fort in Ghana. These two historical sites visited by Wilson in the film provided a deep insight into the bitter and painful journey of slavery.

The 90-minute film records an unusual family reunion as the New Jersey Wilson family travels back to North Carolina to meet the White Wilsons on the same plantations on which Black lives were destroyed and exploited for economic gain.

A panel discussion on race followed the screening, both of which were sponsored by Ford Motor Company.

NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams moderated the discussion, presenting a revolving panel of experts including Georgetown University’s noted author Michael Eric Dyson, Black media mogul Tom Joyner, entrepreneur Malaak Compton-Rock, Mike Barnicle, Boston Herald columnist, Tim Wise of the Association for White Anti-Racist Education and other prominent voices on civil rights.

“We talk about this (issue) on my show, Black media and Black newspapers. We need to have a conversation like this with mainstream media,” Joyner said in response to Williams’ question about his thoughts on the film. Joyner made a similar point to me during a pre-screening reception conversation that most of the time Blacks preach to the choir. If racism is to be solved it has to involve mainstream America. He makes a point. Joyner took it further stating that “until we start with an apology of the system that brought us here, the conversation can’t advance,” to the cheering of students inside the Crampton auditorium.

At the end of the film, Wilson asked. “What’s wrong with Black people?”

Dyson told Williams the more appropriate question would be what’s wrong with White America?

“I want you to transcend your bigotry about my Blackness,” Dyson said.

Wise said it is unfair to ask Blacks to transcend race because “no White person is ever asked to transcend Whiteness. To be blind to color is to be blind to the consequences of color.”

Compton-Rock said Black children growing up need to be taught the history of slavery. Citing her own children, she said, “I do not shy away from talking about slavery. They (my children) have been to slave forts.”

The 90-minute discussion took a twist when Howard professor of African American Studies Greg Carr said basically that people of African descent cannot depend on the American political system to solve the problems of Black people. Carr who complained about the fact that no one from the university was on the panel, told NBC anchorman Williams that Blacks should look up to a higher cultural and spiritual realm to addressing issues in the Black world.

Barber, who was the film’s host, said the screening was timely because of the immediate past anniversary celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s death.

“This film throws political correctness out the window,” Barber said.

The NBC correspondent said the film comes at a time when race is being tested in the presidential race in the candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama.

In an interview the younger Wilson reiterated Barber’s point that the film was created out of a need to have serious discussion on race.

“We have a politically correct culture that does not allow people to speak openly about race in America,” Wilson said. “I think we are suffering because of that. One of the things this film does is it tries to open the conversation. We need to engage White America in this conversation. We can’t openly talk about it without engaging White America.”

Wilson said he felt it was “very vindicating to have Ford and MSNBC come forward to deliver the message to the rest of the country.”

Crystal Greene, Ford Sponsorships & Diverse Markets manager, said the automaker got behind the wheel of the film because of the need to send a strong message to the larger community.

“After being presented the idea and taking a look at the film, we felt it was a very special project. Another factor was that the film provided a platform for us to tell Ford’s story of its rich heritage in the African American experience as well as Ford’s role in David’s family history,” Greene said. “Ford was one of the first equal opportunity employers in the country, providing opportunities that sparked a large number of African Americans to move to Michigan from the South.”

Greene said Ford is “still consistently ranked one of the best companies for diversity and purchases from minority-owned businesses. Ford is also home of the Ford African Ancestry Network where issues surrounding diversity are discussed openly with employees of all races as they relate to our company and society at large.”

But beyond “Meeting David Wilson” lies the essence of understanding the slavery story. There is nothing wrong in teaching Black children their history and identity. Every community is enhanced by not only their drive to create meaningful change and advancement, but also by their strong sense of the history that has brought them this far. Other communities that have come out of similar struggles and experiences do not hesitate to openly discuss their history. Why should we be ashamed or see this topic that was so candidly discussed at Howard as an issue that is “untouchable”?

Discussing slavery should not be a taboo in our community. Instead it should be seen as both a cultural and historical impetus to giving today’s generation more zeal in confronting the ever-increasing challenges and racism that are sometimes masked in ivory operations.

Yes it makes some people very uncomfortable. But that is exactly what is needed sometimes to get the honesty out of people, especially when some of those very people begin their never-ending and little-impacting gospel of race. If you are going to address race, don’t tiptoe around it. Confront it. That is what honest and justice-loving people do.

Thompson’s latest book, “A Matter of Black Transformation,” pushes the frontiers of Black socio-economic empowerment in the light of globalization. Read his blogs at michronicleonline.com or e-mail bthompson@michronicle.com.