What has education taught Dee from "Everyday Use" and Beneatha from A Raisin in the Sun about the importance of heritage?

Dee andshare some striking similarities, attempting to forge their own paths in a
spirit of fierce independence while making a conscious effort to separate themselves from parts
of their own heritage. This desire to more fully embrace their African roots begins in their
quests for a greater education.

Beneatha is in college and establishes the
goal of becoming a doctor. This in itself shows her fierce determination to exceed social and
cultural expectations before the Civil Rights Era. Dee shows her passions for education before
she even leaves home:

She used to read to us without pity;
forcing words, lies, other folks' habits, whole lives upon us two, sitting trapped and ignorant
underneath her voice. She washed us in a river of make-believe, burned up with a lot of
knowledge we didn't necessarily need to know. Pressed us to her with the serious way she read .
. .

In their quests for a rich education, both women
seek out men whom they feel more deeply reflect their African roots....