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Traditional and Contemporary Heritage

She says "I couldn't bear it any longer being named after the people who oppress me" (p.331). Oppression is a term used to signify cruel or unjust treatment for a long period of time. Dee uses this term to convey to her mother that their culture is just merely a fabrication of what the "white man" believes they should go by. So Dee changes her name to Wangero Leewanika Kemajo; believing that changing her name to be more of the African descent will bring her closer to her true African heritage. .
             Dee may be correct to some aspect about the heritage of true Africans but the traditions that she grew up with is what she should refer to. However, Mama tries to explain to her that her name isn't some symbol of oppression but more so an heirloom. She explains that she "probably could have carried it back beyond the Civil War through the branches" (p.331). By saying this Mama infers that the name has gone back for many generations and has always been a family name. Many women in Dee's family were named Dee and, Mama tries to explain that to her but Dee becomes tired of the conversation.
             Unlike her mother, Dee sees her culture as something that needs to be preserved and admired, not used regularly. In the story there is a conflict between Dee and Mama over a quilt that her grandmother made. Dee wants the quilt to hang up in her home but, Mama wants to give it to Maggie for her wedding night. Dee fails to understand why her mother wants to give Maggie the quilt. Dee even goes as far to say "Maggie can't appreciate these quilts! She'd probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use" (p.333). She thinks the complete opposite of Mama. Dee would rather the quilts be put up somewhere safe from harm so that they could last longer. Dee would rather look at her heritage from a distance than actually live in it. What Dee fails to realize is that even though she has good intentions for what she believes is her true heritage.


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