In the story Everyday Use, the author uses heritage to Even though he is marginal to the story in Everyday Use, I want to discuss the character of Hakim, as his presence is signicant to the topic at hand and discussing him provides some entry into the concepts I want to explore. While never explicitly stated, one may surmise that Hakim is or considers himself to be a Black Muslim. The story infers this by his greeting of, his refusal of pork at the meal and calling it, and the mothers own inference, saying to him, You must belong to those beef-cattle peoples down the road. His alliance with Black Islam seems to portray Hakim as politically minded or that communities of racism and promotion of African-American independence and self-initiative. Certainly, the mothers admiration for the commune for its refusal to succumb to racist threats is apparent. She says of them, When white folks poisoned some of the herd the men stayed up all night with ries in their hands. I walked a mile and a half just to see the sight (54). In this way, Black Islam embodies the ideals of African-American pride and empowerment. But the pursuit of these ideals is maintained through practical means. The mother says of the communes members, Always too busy: feeding the cattle, xing the fences, putting up saltlick shelters, throwing down hay (54). And Cowart concludes that the neighboring Muslims have immersed themselves
in agrarian practicality (73). The purpose of the commune, undoubtedly, is to provide its members with enough economic support to be self-sufcient, thereby reducing the inuence from those on the outside who do not share the communes ideals. Moreover, the overt threat made on the commune is not idealistic but practical poisoning the cattle, the communes primary means of economic support. Or, more accurately, the poisoning threatens the communes ideas through its practical support as the two are interconnected. Hakim, however, does not appear to be a good representative of these or any other ideas. He acts respectfully when he greets the mother and Maggie. But he soon behaves in a rather pretentious manner when he tries to shake hands with Maggie in a fancy way she does not know and then soon gives up on her (53). Rather than considering a form of greeting with which Maggie would most likely be familiar, or rather than taking the time to teach her something new, Hakim does just enough to demonstrate what he knows; his actions are self-serving rather than relationship-building. More signicantly, Hakims initial respect for the mother is undermined by the condecension he and Dee/Wangero exhibit during the conversation they have over Dee/Wangeros decision to change her name. At one point, the mother observes, He just stood there grinning, looking down on me like somebody inspecting a Model A car.