Heritage And Heritage Essay

Heritage is something to be proud of, a feeling of understanding and an appreciation of a family’s roots and history, however, in the African-American community, heritage is something that was attempted to be taken away during slavery. Most search for culture, researching their roots via ancestry.com, tracing back to Africa, almost like filling in empty pages. Many times, African-Americans are unable to trace to the exact origin, so they create their own culture and heritage based on their immediate family history and traditions, or what they feel represents African culture. In the short story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker, Dee (Wangero) has created her own culture, rejecting her family’s heritage because she feels her family has been oppressed

One of the things she does is reject her birth-given name, a name that has been a family legacy and adopts a new name, Wangero. “‘No Mama,’ she says. ‘Not Dee, Wangero Leewanika Kemanjo’” (Walker, 1944, p. 318). Dee truly believes that this new African name is a part of her African heritage more appropriately. With the new name, she feels closer to what she feels her roots truly are. Dee further says that she couldn’t use a name that was used by the people who “oppressed” her, and at this point in the story, she has shown that she has rejected her family’s identity (Farrell, 1998). Dee also feels that her family’s heritage is dead and that her own mother and sister fail to realize it. Dee is dead to her and Wangero is whom she has become. Even though Mama is surprised that Dee has changed her name, she says, “If that’s what you want us to call you, we’ll call you” (Walker, 1944, p. 318), as a way to show her daughter that she is willing to accept Dee’s new name. It also shows that mama is willing to love Dee despite what or who she wants to

Dee wants the quilt more than anything, but the quilt isn’t about being a decoration to be hung up like a museum exhibit, it is made to be used daily. Quilting is part of their family heritage. Dee doesn’t realize that the quilt she wants isn’t simply a family heirloom, it means much more than that. “In the African American community, women have been involved with quilting since they were brought to America as slaves” (Martin, 2014, p. 1). They symbol of the quilt in the story is a sisterhood, empowerment, and nature, something that Dee has failed to realize (Martin, 2104). Dee is looking for her family’s heritage and it has been there. The family heirlooms are the true tokens of their origin. Mama finally realizes that she and Maggie have embraced their true heritage through quilting and tells Dee that she cannot have them because Maggie will take it when she gets married. The situational irony in the story at the end, Dee proclaims that Mama and Maggie have no knowledge of their heritage, but it is Dee who does not understand her