Everyday Use

This is a story about sibling rivalry between two sisters told from the mother's point of view. This is also a story about coming to terms with one's own heritage, in this case an African American heritage. Like so many "evolved" black women, Dee changes her name to Wangero in the attempt to value her African roots. She takes up with a young man who has become Muslim, which further underscores their connection to Africa, although Wangero does not affect any dietary restrictions. And now she has come to reclaim her heritage from her mother in the form of a butter churn and her grandmother's quilts. The value that she reclaims from her African roots transfers, in her eyes, to the butter churn and especially her grandmother's quilts, articles that recall a rude 19th century lifestyle during slavery. She sees these items as having acquired monetary value as a consequence of her newfound Afrocentric consciousness. And she accuses her sister of putting them to "everyday use," rather than showcasing them in a museum. The irony here, of course, is that these items were intended for "everyday use. "Maggie, her sister, bears the symbolic scars of slavery on her hands and arms where she suffered burns when the house burned down. The cause of the fire may well have been action by the KKK, a racist group known for their violent tactics. Maggie is also a bit slow witted, and has always been in awe of her sister, to whom, in her eyes, nothing has ever been denied. Wangero, although evolved and more "aware" of the issues surrounding being black in America during the Civil Rights movement than either her mother or sister, treats them with cold calculation, as unenlightened victims whom she might justifiably exploit for the greater good and in the name of some abstract ideal. The mother wins a victory when she sides with Maggie and refuses to part with the quilts.