If she was to say actually travel to Africa and learn how it is to live there, and learn some of the normal customs, then I would assume that her mother would see it as more acceptable that she see it as her heritage, but I could never see her mother fully accepting it. For example, I personally am of Irish descent. You don’t see me running around in a green suit with a pot of gold screaming “They’re after me lucky charms!”. That is because I’ve never had the full Irish experience.
I dont think she would see that as inappropriate, do you?