Hip-hop As a Possible Useful Tool in Institutionalized Eurocentric Education

        

          If we open any history textbook today, it is very likely that Black history is not the main focus, or is not acknowledged at all. Thus, African Americans are distant from institutionalized education mostly because their ancestors and struggles lack a place in the curriculum. Hip-hop, therefore, in a way serves as a medium to fill in the missing parts in the curriculum of institutionalized education and becomes a tool for students to understand history and empower them in a Eurocentric society. In other words, hip-hop is a self-educating tool for African Americans, as well as a bridge that connects the predominantly white curriculum and the struggles of black people that actually make up a significant part in white supremacy.

          “…the Discourse of education teaches “Whiteness” as a cultural norm, particularly through curriculum.” (Au, 214) Institutionalized education nowadays perpetuates white supremacy subconsciously by excluding the history of people of color, especially African Americans. That decreases the importance and worth of black history and thus creates a gap between a Eurocentric society and the oppression that African Americans faced under this Eurocentric system. Hip-hop, under this oppressive system, becomes an extremely important way of teaching black history which “formal” education lacks. For instance, In Lupe Fiasco’s song, “All Black Everything”, the lyrics reimagines a world of black supremacy:

“…Constitution written by W.E.B. Du Bois
Were no reconstructions, civil war got avoided
Little black sambo grows up to be a lawyer
Extra extra on the news stands
Black woman voted head of Ku Klux Klan
Malcolm Little dies as an old man
Martin Luther King read the eulogy for him
Followed by Bill O'Reilly who read from the Qu'ran
President Bush sends condolences from Iran
Where Fox News reports live
That Ahmadinejad wins the Mandela Peace Prize…”

Lyrics like this encourages students and teachers to look more into black history; in the same article, Au mentions that “Hip-hop culture and rap music can be studied just like any other subject area. Both have histories and traditions and communicate cultural norms and attitudes that are worth understanding… .” (Au, 216) Since black students are disconnected from institutionalized education for not having their history taught, rap songs that express concerns about civil rights and black history can act as a media for black students to reconnect to their education, as well as a critical thinking tool.

          According to Parma, Nocella, and Shykeem, “When students reflect on and understand the conditions under which they are oppressed, they are empowered to take control of their lives and create change.” (Shykeem, 291) Teaching black history is more than just filling in the gaps of the curriculum; it is to empower youth, especially African American youth, to understand their place in society and the reason for that. “As long as there have been walls of incarceration to punish, isolate, and silence, youth behind these walls have used music and poetry to express feelings of anger, frustration – and hope.” (Shykeem, 290)

          When I was in high school, one of my English teachers told us to write sixteen bars, and some of us actually got to perform it. Sixteen bars is one of the most popular rap lyric forms, and I was lucky enough to see it utilized in a public school and learn both writing and some history from it. People like Rakim and Eminem explore their writing skills when they write lyrics for their songs. If rap lyrics and their forms are treated as poetry in English education, it would benefit both English and history knowledge of the students as I have experienced. It is time for hip-hop to make it into institutionalized education, for it empowers and strengthens black identity and culture to balance white supremacy.

Works cited

Au, W. (2005). Fresh Out of School: Rap Music's Discursive Battle With Education. Journal Of Negro Education, 74(3), 210-220. http://www.jstor.org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/stable/pdf/40027428.pdf?acceptTC=true

Parmar, P., Nocella, A. J., & Shykeem. (2011). Poetry Behind the Walls. Peace Review, 23(3), 287-295. doi:10.1080/10402659.2011.596046. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=65125593&site=ehost-live