The Issue of Heritage within "Everyday Use"

Alice Walker’s short story “Everyday Use” tackles the issue of heritage which creates a divide between her two characters, Mrs Jackson and her daughter Dee (Wangero). Within the story, the reader witnesses a struggle between the protagonists over the preservation of one’s heritage should take form. However, Walker’s narrative addresses a much further issue within one’s heritage such as identity. The aspect of Identity has a role within as Wangero and Mrs. Jackson share a similar heritage yet have differing opinions on their identity. This difference is exemplified as Wangero is perceived to be more outward in appreciating and cataloging of objects that her mother makes in order to preserve them for future generations. In contrast, Mrs. Jackson prioritizes these same objects for everyday use rather than having them not be used. These differing opinions of identity brought my thinking toward understand the issue of identity within the Black communities specifically the relationship between Africans and African- Americans.

Mrs Jackson and her daughters are descendants of enslaved Africans within the United States. However, their relationship has been shaped by an ‘American gaze’ through various means such as colonization, slavery, and the Civil War/Reconstruction Era. As a result, the heritage that the women have has been shaped by an American (Eurocentric) perspective in which complicates the women’s past (almost foreign) heritage and a newly formed heritage that internalizes that lense. In essence, Walker is pointing out a cultural divide that exists between Africans and African Americans. African Americans have the legacy and heritage of African culture yet African Americans do not have a direct link to that heritage which resulted in the manifestation of a new culture and heritage within the context of American identity politics. This cultural divide and treatment between these two groups still exist as recent issues of cultural appropriation of Africans culture and the American privilege that is afforded to African Americans. The larger, complex issue that Walker wants to address is the complexities surrounding identity politics and the process of this formation. With resources to education, Wangero had an opportunity to learn and navigate her identity as a African American woman through learning history and the importance of objects that are usually taken for granted. However, the process of making and using quilts by Mrs. Jackson and her other daughter Maggie is also a way in which the preservation and formation of their identity are appreciated and valued through the every day use of these objects to ensure a collective history.